Microsoft recently confirmed that the latest update for Windows 11, which was released on October 14 as KB5066835, had accidently broken the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) used to help factory reset or recover Windows PCs when they are taken offline by an error or faulty driver.
The issue caused the Windows Recovery Environment to ignore input from keyboards or mice, meaning users couldn't actually use the recovery tools provided by Windows to restore or reset their PC. As you'd expect, this is a pretty big problem, and Microsoft was quick to acknowledge the problem and begin working on a fix.
Now, less than a week later, Microsoft has released an emergency out of band update to fix the Windows Recovery Environment issue, known as KB5070773 and rolling out via Windows Update now for users running Windows 11 version 24H2 and version 25H2.
Here's the changelog for the patch:
- Fixed: After installing the Windows security update released on October 14, 2025 (KB5066835), USB devices, such as keyboards and mice, do not function in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This issue prevents navigation of any of the recovery options within WinRE. Note that the USB devices continue to work normally within the Windows operating system.
An out of band update is only issued when there's a problem that needs urgent addressing outside of Microsoft's usual update schedule. Microsoft tries to keep mandatory Windows updates to once a month, except for rare situations where an additional update becomes necessary to address a major bug or issue.
Not being able to reset or recover a Windows PC is likely considered to be a major problem, and waiting for the next scheduled Patch Tuesday would result in more PCs becoming unable to progress through the Windows Recovery Environment. So it makes sense that Microsoft has released an out of band update now to address it.
You can read more about the out of band update for Windows 11 version 24H2 and version 25H2 on the Microsoft Update website.
Follow Windows Central on Google News to keep our latest news, insights, and features at the top of your feeds!
