Windows 10: BitLocker drive gone after fresh install of Windows 11

I did a fresh install of Windows 11 and forgot that I had my BitLocker encrypted SSD external drive still plugged in the back of my computer. After the install I found that the BitLocker encrypted drive was no longer showing anything on it and with no lock. The drive shows no problems with the drive, but all my files are gone. I have the password and the BitLocker Encryption recovery key but showing no way to use them on that drive.Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Version 10.0.26100 Buil

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Windows 8.1 PRO unable to unlock Bitlocked drive

I used a Bitlocker in Windows 8 PRO to Lock my Internal SATA Drive. I have formatted my PC twice in past and I was able to unlock it after each fresh installation of Windows 8.

But Recently I did a fresh Installation of Windows using same Software and CDKEY. This time I did upgraded to Windows 8.1 including all the latest patches.
Problem is When I click on my Drive, Windows give me the message " DO YOU WANT TO FORM IT" When I do click Cancel. I do the following message "The
volume does not contain a recognized file system....."
Here is the screenshot of error message
imgur.com

Disk management shows a healthy Drive:
imgur.com

I have done fresh installation of windows several times before but never had this issue. I was always able to restore security settings and unlock my drive using BITLOCKER.

I have tried to unlock the drive with just Windows 8 pro and the problem persists.

Additional Info:
- Control Panel > BitLocker, Software no longer shows my drive under it.
- Hardware specs remain the same before or after the issue.

Any tech support would be great.

 

Windows 8.1 PRO unable to unlock Bitlocked drive

That's not good. You can try re-installing Windows 8 and unlocking the drive, and disabling Bitlocker on that drive, before upgrading to 8.1. Though I have a bad feeling that even going back to Windows 8 might not help, I have a feeling the drive just bit the dust and corrupted the file system...

 

Need to turn off Bitlocker to install Windows 10

Hi,

We suggest doing the following steps again to resolve the issue. To complete the procedure, make sure that you have the following information:

• You must be able to provide administrative credentials.
• The drive must be BitLocker-protected.

To suspend BitLocker Drive Encryption on an operating system drive, please follow the steps below:

• Click Start, click Control Panel, click
  System and Security, and then click BitLocker Drive Encryption.
• Click Suspend Protection for the operating system drive.
• A message is displayed, informing you that your data will not be protected while BitLocker is suspended and asking if you want to suspend BitLocker Drive Encryption.
  
• Click Yes to continue and suspend BitLocker on the drive.

Let us know how it goes.