External Drive Recovery for Encrypted Storage: Full 2026 Guide

External drive recovery for encrypted storage is a two-step process: you must unlock the encryption first using your password or recovery key, then standard recovery software can scan the drive and find deleted or lost files. Skipping the unlock step means recovery tools see scrambled data they cannot interpret. This guide covers every major encryption type — BitLocker, FileVault, VeraCrypt, and hardware-encrypted drives from Samsung and WD — so you can recover files safely regardless of how your drive was protected.

Part 1. How Encryption Affects Data Recovery

When a drive is encrypted, every sector is scrambled with a cipher key. Recovery software reads raw sectors from the storage medium. If those sectors are still encrypted, the software recovers meaningless ciphertext rather than your actual files.

The core rule is simple: decrypt first, recover second. Once the drive is mounted and unlocked by the operating system, all sectors appear as readable plaintext to any software running on that machine — including data recovery tools.

💡 Tip: If your drive shows up normally in File Explorer or Finder after entering your password, it is already unlocked. You can run recovery software immediately without any extra steps.

The table below maps each encryption type to the unlock method and the correct recovery approach.

Part 2. BitLocker Encrypted External Drives

BitLocker is the most common encryption on Windows external drives. Windows applies it automatically on some configurations, or users enable it manually via right-click > "Turn on BitLocker."

How to unlock and recover:

1. Connect the encrypted external drive to a Windows PC.
2. Windows will prompt for a BitLocker password. Enter the password you set when encryption was enabled.
3. If you do not have the password, open the Microsoft account recovery key portal to retrieve your 48-digit recovery key. The key is saved there automatically if your Microsoft account was linked during encryption.
4. Once unlocked, the drive appears with a normal drive letter (e.g., E:).
5. Open your recovery software — such as Ritridata — select the drive letter, and run a deep scan.

💡 Tip: Always use the drive letter assigned after unlocking, not the RAW or unformatted partition view. Recovery tools that target the unlocked volume letter will correctly read the NTFS structure.

⚠️ Warning: If you enter the wrong BitLocker password too many times, Windows may enter BitLocker lockout mode. Stop guessing after three failed attempts and use the recovery key from your Microsoft account instead.

🗣️ A user on r/techsupport described finding their BitLocker recovery key automatically stored in their Microsoft account after forgetting the password they had set two years earlier — they were able to unlock the drive and recover all files within an hour.

Part 3. FileVault Encrypted External Drives and Time Machine

FileVault is macOS's built-in encryption. It can encrypt internal drives and, when combined with Time Machine, it also encrypts external backup drives.

How to unlock and recover:

1. Connect the encrypted external drive to a Mac.
2. macOS will prompt for a password in Finder or Disk Utility. Enter the password used when encryption was enabled.
3. If you forgot the password, use your iCloud-stored FileVault recovery key: open System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault and follow the iCloud recovery prompts.
4. Once the volume is mounted on the Desktop, it is fully readable.
5. Run Ritridata or another recovery tool, target the mounted volume, and scan for deleted files.

💡 Tip: On macOS Ventura and later, Time Machine encrypted volumes require your macOS user password specifically — not a separate encryption password. Use the same password you use to log into the Mac.

🗣️ A member of r/applehelp reported that after a failed macOS upgrade their Time Machine external drive showed up as locked. They entered their login password in Disk Utility to mount it, then ran recovery software on the mounted volume to pull back three months of documents.

Part 4. VeraCrypt Encrypted External Drives and Containers

VeraCrypt creates either a file-based encrypted container or encrypts an entire partition. Both appear as unreadable storage until mounted using the VeraCrypt application.

How to unlock and recover:

1. Install VeraCrypt on your computer if it is not already present.
2. Open VeraCrypt and click "Select File" for a container or "Select Device" for a full-partition encrypted drive.
3. Click "Mount" and enter your container password or provide the keyfile.
4. VeraCrypt assigns a virtual drive letter (e.g., Z:) that represents the decrypted volume.
5. Run recovery software targeting that virtual drive letter — it behaves identically to a normal unencrypted drive.
6. After recovery is complete, click "Dismount" in VeraCrypt to safely lock the volume again.

⚠️ Warning: Do not attempt to write new data to a VeraCrypt volume during recovery. Writing to the drive while recovering can overwrite sectors containing deleted files, permanently destroying them before they are retrieved.

Part 5. Samsung and WD Hardware-Encrypted External Drives

Hardware-encrypted drives from Samsung (T7, T9) and WD (My Passport, My Book) use AES encryption built into the drive's controller. The encryption is transparent once unlocked, but the drive shows as completely unreadable — sometimes even invisible — until the correct PIN or password is entered through the manufacturer's software.

Samsung T7 / T9:

1. Download and install Samsung Magician on your PC or Mac.
2. Connect the drive — it will appear as a locked device in Samsung Magician.
3. Enter your Samsung drive PIN to unlock it.
4. The drive now appears as a standard storage volume in your operating system.
5. Run Ritridata and select the unlocked drive for recovery.

WD My Passport / My Book:

1. Download WD Drive Utilities from the WD support site.
2. Connect the drive and enter your password in the WD Drive Utilities unlock prompt.
3. The drive mounts normally and recovery can begin.

💡 Tip: If you have lost the PIN or password for a hardware-encrypted Samsung or WD drive, the only recovery path is a factory reset — which erases all data. Contact WD or Samsung support before attempting a reset to confirm there is no alternative unlock option for your specific model.

Part 6. When the Encrypted Drive Shows RAW

Sometimes an encrypted external drive connects but Windows reports the filesystem as RAW or asks you to format it. This almost always means one of two things: the encryption header is damaged, or the drive was connected to a different OS that cannot read the encryption layer.

Do not format the drive. Formatting overwrites the encryption header and any recoverable file structures.

The correct workflow is:

1. Try unlocking via the standard method for your encryption type first (BitLocker key, FileVault password, etc.).
2. If the drive still shows RAW after unlocking, run a recovery tool such as Ritridata in deep scan mode — it can bypass the corrupted filesystem and recover files directly from the raw sectors.
3. If the drive is not recognized at all (not visible in Disk Management), try a different USB cable and a different port before concluding the drive has a hardware failure.

The table below summarizes the full recovery workflow from connection to recovered files.

Part 7. Recover Files with Ritridata

Ritridata supports recovery from external drives across all major filesystems including NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, HFS+, and APFS. After you have unlocked your encrypted external drive using the steps above, Ritridata can find deleted files, files lost after a format, and files from drives with corrupted or RAW filesystems.

Steps to recover with Ritridata:

1. Download and install Ritridata on your computer.
2. Connect and unlock your encrypted external drive using the method for your encryption type.
3. Launch Ritridata and select the unlocked external drive from the drive list.
4. Choose Deep Scan for maximum file recovery — this is recommended for encrypted drives and RAW filesystem situations.
5. Preview recoverable files in the results panel.
6. Select the files you want and click Recover. Save them to your internal drive or a separate external drive — never back to the source drive.

Ritridata recovers documents, photos, videos, audio, and other common file types from external drives on both Windows and macOS.

FAQ

Q: Can I recover files from a BitLocker drive without the password or recovery key? Without the BitLocker password or the 48-digit recovery key, the encrypted data cannot be decrypted. Recovery software cannot help because the sectors contain only ciphertext. Check your Microsoft account at account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey first — recovery keys are saved there automatically for many users.

Q: Will recovery software work on an encrypted drive that has not been unlocked? No. Recovery software scans sectors for recognizable file signatures. Encrypted sectors contain randomized data that produces no readable file signatures. The drive must be mounted and decrypted by the OS before any recovery tool can work.

Q: My encrypted external drive shows as RAW — should I format it? Do not format it. Formatting will overwrite the encryption header and any recoverable data. Unlock the drive first, then run Ritridata in deep scan mode to recover files without relying on the corrupted filesystem.

Q: Can Ritridata recover files from FileVault-encrypted drives on macOS? Yes, once the FileVault volume is unlocked and mounted in macOS, Ritridata can scan it and recover deleted or lost files from the mounted APFS or HFS+ volume.

Q: What if I have lost the password for my VeraCrypt container? VeraCrypt uses AES-256 encryption with no backdoor. Without the password or keyfile, there is no practical way to decrypt the container. Store VeraCrypt passwords in a password manager to prevent this situation.

Q: Can hardware-encrypted WD and Samsung drives be recovered without the PIN? If the PIN is completely lost, most hardware-encrypted drives require a factory reset, which erases all data. Contact WD or Samsung support before resetting — in rare cases they may have alternative unlock procedures for enterprise customers.

Q: How do I avoid losing access to an encrypted external drive in the future? Always store your recovery key or password in at least two separate locations: a password manager and a printed copy in a secure physical location. For BitLocker, keep the recovery key backed up to your Microsoft account. For FileVault, enable iCloud recovery key escrow.

References

1. Microsoft — BitLocker recovery guide
2. Apple — FileVault overview
3. VeraCrypt — VeraCrypt documentation
4. Western Digital — WD Drive Utilities download and support