Microsoft just confirmed a nasty bug that can randomly fire up the BitLocker recovery screen on Windows 11 25H2, 24H2, and even Windows 10. Boom you’re staring at a blue screen demanding your 48-digit recovery key. Don’t, have it? Kiss your data goodbye.
The silver lining: That key is usually auto-saved to your
Microsoft account. Log in at account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey and grab
it before you panic.
The updates that broke it:
Win 11 25H2, 24H2 - KB5066835 & Win 10 22H2 - KB5066791
A fix is rolling out now. Home users will get it
automatically; enterprise folks, your IT crew will have to push it manually.
Bonus nerd note: Run powercfg /a in an admin Command
Prompt. If you see Standby (S0 Low Power Idle), your machine uses Modern
Standby. Microsoft hasn’t said a word about the connection, but here’s my
take:
The October 2025 updates probably messed with the boot chain
or Secure Boot validation. On Intel + Modern Standby (S0) rigs, the update path
failed to suspend BitLocker for one reboot like it’s supposed to.
Result? BitLocker freaks out, throws the recovery screen, you type the key, and
Windows reboots like nothing happened.
This is about BitLocker and Microsoft's sloppy coding, it
has nothing to do with TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot.
