Some Windows 11 users are discovering an annoying surprise after installing Microsoft’s latest patch: their PCs refuse to shut down.
Instead of powering off as expected, affected machines simply restart, turning a basic action into an unexpected loop.
The issue appeared following the January 13, 2026, security update (KB5073455), which Microsoft rolled out last week via Neowin, as part of its regular Patch Tuesday cycle for Windows 11 and Windows 10. While the release notes didn’t flag anything unusual, reports quickly surfaced suggesting the update introduced a shutdown bug on certain systems.
According to Microsoft’s own support documentation, the problem only affects Windows 11 version 23H2 devices that have Secure Launch enabled. Secure Launch is designed to protect PCs from low-level malware by ensuring the system boots in a trusted state, but in this case it seems to be clashing with the latest update.
“After installing the January 13, 2026, Windows security update (KB5073455) for Windows 11, version 23H2, some PCs with Secure Launch are unable to shut down or enter hibernation,” Microsoft explains. “Instead, the device restarts.”
The good news is that Microsoft has already issued a fix. An out-of-band update, KB5077797, is now available and resolves the shutdown issue. The same patch also addresses a separate bug that caused sign-in failures for Remote Desktop connections, making it a worthwhile install even if you haven’t noticed the restart problem yet.
Unlike standard cumulative updates, out-of-band patches don’t always install automatically. Users experiencing the issue will need to manually download and install KB5077797 from Microsoft’s update catalogue to restore normal shutdown behaviour.
If your Windows 11 PC suddenly won’t power off properly after last week’s update – and especially if Secure Launch is enabled — installing the fix should put things back to normal. It’s another reminder that even routine security updates can occasionally bring unintended side effects, though in this case, at least, Microsoft moved quickly to clean things up.
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