It’s been a tough week for Windows. Following a major outage caused by a CrowdStrike update, which disrupted IT infrastructure worldwide (though it’s a CrowdStrike issue, not a Windows one), a recent Windows security update has introduced another headache. Users are reporting that the update is pushing their PCs into BitLocker recovery mode, leading to a resurgence of the Blue Screen of Death among IT administrators.
The July security update for Windows may trigger a BitLocker recovery screen if you use the encryption feature. Microsoft has issued a warning about this on their support page, as reported by BleepingComputer. This issue impacts all versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11, along with Windows Server versions going back to 2008.
If you have access to your BitLocker recovery key, entering it should resolve the problem and allow you to boot normally. Microsoft is actively investigating the issue, so further information or fixes may be forthcoming.
If you’re unable to locate your BitLocker recovery key, it can be accessed through the online recovery screen portal associated with your Microsoft account. While such issues with Windows updates are not uncommon, and BitLocker is used by a minority of Windows users, the coincidence of this problem with the recent CrowdStrike disruption highlights a period of challenging tech news for Windows.