I forgot to stress – Clearly the encryption is being turned on without people being aware of it, probably is part of some feature update, so definitely check for a Microsoft account record of the key even if you’re sure you never created one

Thank you Theolondon!!! This stopped the auto 16 update successfully and now I can finally access and unlock my drive.

I had trust issue with everyone once on my computer. Still wonder which azure account locked my computer though.

My BIOS updated this morning and my XPS 13 is now asking for a Bitlocker recovery key, which I don't have. I tried going through all the solutions suggested on here and my settings were already in line with what was suggested. I spent the last 4 hours taking to Microsoft support to no avail. Microsoft is saying it's Dell's fault and Dell is saying it's Microsoft's fault. All the local repairmen are saying it is Microsoft's fault. All I know is, I have almost 4 years worth of important files that I cannot afford to lose. This is absolutely crazy that I have been completely locked out of my own computer because of an update. This needs to be fixed now. I am desperate! If someone can help me, I'd be willing to pay good money. Please!!!

So it appears this is caused when two things happen simultaneously. Windows Update has windows changes and also has a Dell BIOS update (yes, Windows Update will download BIOS updates for you) and a reboot happens in the middle of the Windows Update process, thereby updating to the new BIOS in the middle of a Windows update. Sounds like a really bad idea.  

As other people have said it looks like BIOS 2.16 doesn't like whatever state Windows is in while it's in the middle of a Windows Update cycle or possibly the other way around. This causes Bitlocker (which no one has the key for) to think enough has changed that it puts up it's stupid screen.

Here's the steps...

1. In BIOS setup do security -> UEFI capsule firmware updates -> disable. This will stop the existing BIOS from reading and reinstalling the new 2.16 BIOS (that Windows Update downloaded) right after you've rolled it back to 2.12 BIOS. This is probably why most people who try the 2.12 rollback can't get it to work.

2. Using another computer get the 2.12 BIOS from here https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=02gcf&oscode=wt64a&productcode=xps-13-9360-laptop&src=o Link is for XPS 13 9360 only!!!!

3. Put the XPS_9360_2.12.0.exe file on a UBS stick 

4. On your broken laptop use F12 at boot time and go to BIOS Flash Update

5. Plug in the UBS drive to broken laptop and select XPS_9360_2.12.0.exe using the ... button next to BIOS update file.

6. Press Begin Flash Update and say OK to everything

7. System should reboot and go into BIOS update mode. On my laptop it said it failed but it worked so...

8. It then "should" boot past Bitlocker and you'll probably see a Windows Upgrade % counter thing and get another reboot. 

9. For me, after that point I could log in to laptop as normal. 

Note: I then tried to manually upgrade to BIOS 2.17, got the same Bitlocker screen, and had to do it all again so don't update your BIOS until Dell & Microsoft figure this out or you have a valid Bitlocker recovery key.

Note: I can't find a way to get my Bitlocker recovery key

Hope this helps someone

@PhilBChicago  To find your Recovery Key, normally you'd just go to BitLocker Drive Encryption under Control Panel. But if that's not available on Win10 Home (assuming that's what you're running), enter this in an elevated Command Prompt:

manage-bde -protectors -get C:

The 48-digit string of numbers at the bottom of the Numerical Passowrd protector info section is your Recovery Key.  Do NOT confuse that with the string between braces/curly brackets.  That is just a unique identifier of the protector object itself.

And if you want to update your BIOS without encountering this issue, suspend BitLocker before updating.  Again that is normally easy to do from Control Panel > BitLocker Drive Encryption, but if that's not available, then there's some manage-bde command that will achieve that.  Or just plan to enter your Recovery Key once after the update.

I tried all the above mentioned tips and even replaced the SSD and installed windows 10 and then put my old SSD back in, but now my PC is stuck at a “automatic repair loop”. 

Does anyone know how to bypass this, so my laptop can boot correctly? 

Download all the older versions of firmware from the Dell website and put them on a USB stick.

Reboot and hit F12, choose flash Bios from the menu and work backward through your list from the current one, probably 2.16.0

At some point as it reboots, you'll see a Windows 'timer' and it will boot into Windows - but immediately update the bios to 1.16.0 again!

Not sure what I did diffently the second time (except I knew which bios to load) but when it booted into Windows and did a little update, it didn't reboot - just gave a critical message.

I immediately opened a CMD admin window and entered    manage-bde -protectors -get C:  to show the bitlocker key and took a picture of it.

Then went into Windows Update, installed the latest firmware, 2.17.0, restarted, entered the Bitlocker key - and all is back to normal  plus I have the key.

You need to try all the previous bios versions back to about 2.10.0

One should work but you probably won't know what you had before. I just fixed this with 2.12.0 on mine, which I remembered rolling back to for the HDMI adapter. (But I tried all the intermediate ones with no success.)

Does anyone know how to rename the computers in your Microsoft account? I have about 10 listed there and they all are named Desktop with a random number - and none are desktops.

Just had my fair share on this issue yesterday (30.10.2021)

After reading almost for 6 hours, this is the turnaround that work for me.

1. Downgrade Bios from 2.16 to 2.12
2. Shutdown the PC by removing the power cable at least for 1 min (Don't ask my why)
3. Start the PC, Enter BIOS Setup and re-enable TPM 2.0 under Security
   1. F12 to BIOS Setup
   2. Under Security
   3. Expand the Security selection
   4. Click on TPM 2.0 and enable TPM
   5. Click Save and Restart.
4. That should work

Encountered this issue on Christmas Eve, now posting on Christmas Day to let you guys know what worked for me was following @isama 's post (https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/XPS-13-9360-Asks-for-BitLocker-after-Update/m-p/8030306/highlight/true#M89422)

I tried every suggestion I could find over an 8 hour period but the only thing that worked was what was documented by @isama .

Things you'll need:

- 16GB USB

- New NVME SSD

- 6 pointed screw driver

- 4 pointed screw driver

Steps:

- Put new SSD in (requires 6 point and 4 point screw drivers)

- Install Windows via USB

- Once set up installed all updates (BIOS was now 2.5.1 because I went that far back)

- Restarted PC to complete update installs 

- PC will update all sorts of things here (BIOS ended up being 2.10.0 after it was done)

- Put back in old SSD

- Bitlocker screen did not appear

Hope this helps and Merry Christmas.

So lucky I came across this solution. Fixed my computer! Thank you!!!

At some point does Dell and/or Microsoft plan to do something to correct the issue beside offering this fee based support ?

We have a dedicated team that takes care of queries and issues with out-of-warranty systems. Please visit the following link and enter the Service Tag (or Express Service Code) to see support options available for your product: ... Please note that the support would be fee-based.

 Can we have a new firmware/driver that  everything ?

did not work for me