Windows 11 Emergency Update Addresses Mouse and Keyboard Issues in Recovery Environment

Microsoft released an emergency update for Windows 11 yesterday to address mouse and keyboard input issues in the Windows Recovery Environment (via The Verge). The problem was introduced last week with the October 2025 security updates for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2.

“After installing the Windows security update released on October 14, 2025 (KB5066835), USB devices, such as keyboards and mice, do not function in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This issue prevents navigation of any of the recovery options within WinRE. Note that the USB devices continue to work normally within the Windows operating system,” the company explained in the release notes for the update.

The Windows Recovery Environment is a critical part of the OS that provides access to Automatic repair and other troubleshooting tools for the OS. Not being able to navigate this environment with a USB mouse and keyboard is very problematic, and it’s good to see Microsoft was pretty quick to fix the bug.

The out-of-band update (KB5070773) released by Microsoft yesterday is cumulative, meaning it includes all the changes from the KB5066835 update released a week ago for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2. This previous update brought improvements for Click to Do and the AI Agent in Settings on Copilot+ PCs, new AI actions for images and documents in File Explorer, and more.