
Microsoft has issued a patch for Windows 11 after an update released on October 14 quietly broke the Windows Recovery Environment on some systems. The new update, KB5070773, restores USB keyboard and mouse input inside WinRE for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, reversing a bug that left the recovery interface completely unusable on affected machines.
The issue, confirmed by Microsoft over the weekend, stemmed from cumulative update KB5066835. After installing it, users found that USB peripherals worked normally inside Windows proper but stopped responding inside the recovery environment. This is a pretty major failure, given that WinRE is the main route to Startup Repair, Reset this PC, and other tools needed when a machine won’t boot.