Frustrated by Your PC Randomly Restarting Instead of Shutting Down? You're Not Alone, Microsoft Confirms Widespread Bug

 

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If your Windows PC has recently developed a mind of its own—ignoring your shutdown or hibernate commands and restarting instead—you’ve encountered a confirmed bug that Microsoft is actively working to fix. What started as an issue linked to a specific Windows 11 update has now been acknowledged as a broader problem affecting multiple versions of Windows 10 and 11, particularly on PCs with certain security features enabled.

The problem, which has sparked numerous user reports on forums and tech communities, officially traces back to security updates released in January 2026. Microsoft has since detailed the issue in its Windows release health dashboard, providing clarity on which systems are affected and what, if anything, you can do about it right now.

The Root of the Problem: A Post-Update Regression

The trouble began for many users after installing the January 13, 2026, security update for Windows 11 23H2, known as KB5073455. Following this update, affected PCs would bypass a proper shutdown or hibernation and inexplicably restart.

Microsoft's investigation revealed the issue is more specific. It primarily impacts PCs that are "Secure Launch-capable" with a feature called Virtual Secure Mode (VSM) enabled. VSM is a security technology that helps isolate and protect critical parts of the operating system. The conflict between recent Windows updates and this security layer is causing the unexpected restart behavior.

For a detailed breakdown of how this bug emerged and expanded, a great external analysis can be found in this report from BleepingComputer: Microsoft January update shutdown bug affects more Windows PCs.

Which Windows Versions and Updates Are Affected?

Microsoft has explicitly listed the affected platforms. Crucially, they note the problem does not impact systems with AMD or ARM64 processors in the described scenario.

For Windows 11 Users:

• The shutdown/hibernate bug is listed as a known issue for Windows 11 23H2 under update KB5073455.
• Microsoft released an out-of-band (OOB) update, KB5077797, to address it for some Secure Launch devices. However, they confirm that PCs with VSM enabled are not fixed by this OOB update and still experience the problem. Details on that OOB update are in the official Microsoft support document.

For Windows 10 Users: The issue has also been added to known issues for:

• January 13, 2026—KB5073724 (for versions 22H2, LTSC 2021): Some Secure Launch-capable PCs with VSM enabled may restart instead of shutting down.
• January 24, 2026—KB5078131 (for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019): Notes the same VSM-related shutdown bug and points to a future fix.

You can monitor the official status for Windows 11 23H2 on the Windows release health page.

What You Can Do Now: Workarounds and the Wait for a Fix

So, what's the plan if your PC is affected? Microsoft states that a permanent fix for the VSM-enabled variant of this bug will be rolled out in a future Windows update. No specific timeline has been given yet.

In the interim, a reliable temporary workaround has been identified by both Microsoft and third-party experts:

1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open an Administrator Command Prompt.
3. In the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter:
4. shutdown /s /t 0

This command forces an immediate shutdown and has been reported to work consistently on affected systems.

This method is particularly useful if you cannot apply the available OOB updates immediately or if your specific VSM-enabled configuration isn't covered by them.

For the most current information directly from Microsoft, including updates on other versions, keep an eye on the main Windows release health portal.

The Bottom Line: This shutdown bug is a confirmed software regression, not a hardware failure. While frustrating, a known workaround exists, and an official patch is in the pipeline. Users are advised to employ the command prompt workaround for reliable shutdowns until the fix is delivered via Windows Update.