The Crowdstrike storm has barely subsided and the next problem in Windows is already looming. This time it is BitLocker that is making strange jumps.

The latest Windows security update, released on July 9, may send your PC to the BitLocker recovery screen after rebooting. This usually only happens when Windows detects suspicious activity or changes to the TPM chip and other security hardware, but not with a typical security update. But it’s certainly not the first time this has happened.

Microsoft has added the bug to its list of known Windows issues and says it can only occur if you have device encryption enabled. If the feature is enabled, it can affect many versions of Windows. BitLocker is present on all supported versions of Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows Server.

Bitlocker key

This problem is certainly not insurmountable. If you have your BitLocker key handy, just enter it and your PC will restart as normal. A BitLocker key is a unique code consisting of 48 characters and is used to secure the device.

It gets a little more complex if you don’t know it by heart. In this case, you’ll need to look in the Devices menu in your Microsoft account. For business devices, the code can also be accessed via an Azure Active Directory account or the system administrator.

Tough week for Windows

The timing of this bug couldn’t be worse. Microsoft was recently dragged down by the massive Crowdstrike crash. A botched software update took down 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide, causing unprecedented chaos. A blue screen may be the last thing Windows users want to see right now.

BitLocker is only used effectively by a limited percentage of Windows users because you have to enable it yourself, so the impact of the bug will be relatively limited. Microsoft wants Windows users to enable BitLocker, and starting with Windows 24H2, BitLocker will likely be enabled by default.