Microsoft has issued another warning that shutting down Windows PCs is harder than it should be. You may recall the longstanding “update and shutdown” mistake finally admitted and fixed last year. Well, here we go again. Microsoft has just warned that updated PCs “might fail to shut down or hibernate.”
“After installing the January 13, 2026, Windows security update,” Microsoft says, affecting Windows 11, version 23H2, “some PCs with Secure Launch are unable to shut down or enter hibernation. Instead, the device restarts.”
For those unfamiliar, Secure Launch “uses virtualization-based security to protect the system from firmware-level threats during startup.” You can find more details here.
Microsoft advises affected users to do this instead: “Type cmd in the Search bar and select cmd from the search results to open a Command Prompt. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter: shutdown /s /t 0.”
That said, Microsoft also says “there is no work around at this time for entering hibernation.” Be very careful. “Until this issue is resolved, please ensure you save all your work, and shut down when you are done working on your device to avoid the device running out of power instead of hibernating.”
You can expect an out-of-band, emergency update some time soon to resolve this.
Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday fixed a raft of serious vulnerabilities, again including zero-days. It also issued the latest Windows 10 extended support update. But it has not been issue free. Again, there’s an aftertaste for many users.
Beyond the shutdown issue, Microsoft also says some users have suffered “credential prompt failures during Remote Desktop connections using the Windows App on Windows client devices, impacting Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365.”
If you’re affected, Microsoft advises you do one of the following:
