What can you do when this happens… Asking for a friend…
it should be in your MS online account as someone wrote, but in case of, I always save it on a USB key, hidden somewhere. You can also print it, or take a picture of it with your phone. Because there is no way to get it back.
uploading encryption keys makes encryption much less meaningful
Sure, but for most people encryption is mostly supposed to protect against the thief that took your laptop on the metro and not the NSA or whatever.
personal data leaks frequently, that may include these
Yes that is possible, but should I repeat what I wrote earlier or can you just read it again?
I’d like you to repeat it please. But slower this time.
Because they force you to use online accounts now, you can get it from the registered account via the Microsoft account page.
In your Microsoft account: Open a web browser on another device. Go to https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey to find your recovery key.
