If your system is asking you for your BitLocker recovery key, the following information may help you locate your recovery key and understand why you're being asked to provide it. Important: Microsoft support is unable to provide, or recreate, a lost BitLocker recovery key.

Find the Recycle Bin. If your desktop shows no icons at all, right-click (or press and hold) the desktop and select View. If Show desktop icons has no checkmark, click it to add one. If that doesn't work, try this: Select Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings.

If some Windows functions aren't working or Windows crashes, use the System File Checker to scan Windows and restore your files. Though the steps below might look complicated at first glance, just follow them in order, step-by-step, and we’ll try to get you back on track.

How to block pop-ups in Microsoft Edge. In Edge, go to Settings and more at the top of your browser. Select Settings > Cookies and site permissions. Under All permissions, select Pop-ups and redirects. Turn on the Block (recommended) toggle.

You see the following error code when you try to launch a game on a Windows 10/11 device: 0xc0ea0001. This can mean that there’s a potential service outage or an issue with the license manager on your device.

Your PC isn't working well and you recently installed an app. Restore from a system restore point. You suspect your device has been infected. Use installation media to reinstall Windows 11. Select one of the recovery options below and follow the steps to try to get things working again.

If you can't find a file on your computer or you accidently modified or deleted a file, you can restore it from a backup (if you're using Windows backup) or you can try to restore it from a previous version.

You can now restore lost or accidentally deleted favorites in Microsoft Edge with our new favorites recovery feature. You'll need to be signed in to your Microsoft account and have the sync setting turned on to use the favorites recovery feature.

Use this app to try to recover lost files that have been deleted from your local storage device (including internal drives, external drives, and USB devices) and can’t be restored from the Recycle Bin.

Learn how to activate Windows using a product key or digital license, check your activation status, and link your Microsoft account.