Microsoft has confirmed issues affecting systems running Windows 11 version 23H2 after installing the January 2026 security update. According to the company, affected PCs may no longer shut down properly or enter sleep mode.
The issue is now documented in the Windows Release Health Notes. Microsoft says that after installing the January 13, 2026 security update, the system secure boot Enable may fail to power off or switch to sleep. Instead of shutting down or suspending, devices may restart automatically. Secure Boot relies on virtualization-based security to protect the system against firmware-level attacks during startup.
Microsoft says the problematic update has been identified as KB5073455Being offered only for enterprise And IoT Windows 11 version 23H2. While the knowledge base entry references changes related to Secure Boot, these changes are intended to update Secure Boot certificates rather than changing power management behavior.
Temporary solution available
Until a permanent fix is released, Microsoft recommends a manual workaround of shutting down the affected systems. Users should open a command prompt, for example by typing cmd in the Start menu search, and then run the command:
shutdown /s /t 0
This forces the system to shut down immediately. Microsoft has clearly stated that currently No solution for sleep mode. Users are advised to save their work and manually turn off their devices after use to avoid unexpected restarts or battery drain.
This is the second issue that Microsoft has acknowledged regarding the January Patch Day update. Earlier reports had confirmed that the same updates could disrupt connections to Azure virtual desktops and Windows 365, impacting enterprise environments that rely on cloud-based Windows services.
