Microsoft confirmed an issue that could trigger BitLocker Recovery on Windows 11 25H2, 24H2 and even Windows 10. It means you could be asked to enter your BitLocker recovery key. But if you don’t have the key, you will lose all of your data. In most cases, the BitLocker key is always synced to the Microsoft account (MSA).
What is BitLocker?
I don’t hate the idea of BitLocker, but if you are someone who doesn’t understand how BitLocker works and it’s turned on, you could be in trouble when you realise you don’t have the recovery key. A recovery key is required when you are on the above screen, which is now being triggered by the Windows October 2025 Update.
“After installing Windows Updates released on or after October 14, 2025 (the Originating KBs listed above), some devices might encounter issues during restart or startup,” Microsoft confirmed in a new support document. This support document is only visible to those with a Windows 11 Enterprise E3 license.
Microsoft says the following versions of Windows are affected:
Microsoft told Windows Latest that the BitLocker recovery issue affects business consumers only.
A fix is already being rolled out. If you are a business user, you will need to manually deploy it across your organization.
Microsoft says mostly Intel PCs were affected
In the advisory, Microsoft says it identified a bug that mostly affects Intel-based PCs with a feature called “Connected Standby.”
Connected Standby, also known as Modern Standby, is not exactly a new feature. All modern PCs ship with it. This feature was originally developed during the early days of Windows 8 and expanded on with Windows 10.
Microsoft won’t tell us how these BitLocker and Modern Standby are related, but it’s possible that the October 2025 Update ousted the boot chain or Secure Boot state, but on Intel and Modern Standby (S0) machines, the update or restart path didn’t correctly “suspend BitLocker for one reboot.”
This could have triggered the BitLocker recovery screen, but Windows will automatically reboot after you enter the keys.
October 2025 Update has been a rollercoaster ride for Windows, as the update also causes Task Manager-linked performance issues.
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