Microsoft outs KB5070773 emergency Windows 11 update to fix unusable USB keyboard mouse bug

A few days ago Microsoft broke the USB input functionality inside Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 after the latest Patch Tuesday update (KB5066835) which meant that USB-based keyboard and mouse which are super-common these days became useless inside the Recovery menu. The issue was a result of the KB5067039 WinRE update.

Today, Microsoft has released a new emergency out of band (OOB) update which is said to fix the problem. This OOB update has been released under KB5070773 and Builds 26200.6901 (on Windows 11 25H2) and 26100.6901 (on Windows 11 24H2).

The changelog states:

"This out-of-band (OOB) update includes quality improvements. This update is cumulative and includes security fixes and improvements from the October 14, 2025, security update (KB5066835), in addition to the following:

• [USB] Fixed: 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."

Microsoft says this update will be downloaded and installed automatically but you can also manually get it on the Microsoft Update Catalog website at this link.

Source

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Posted Tuesday 21 October 2025 at 1:00 pm AEST (my time).

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