Microsoft has finally fixed a Windows shutdown vulnerability that had plagued users for ten years.

Since Windows 10, Windows users have repeatedly encountered an annoying bug when updating their operating system: the system restarts instead of shutting down normally after an update. For years, Microsoft remained silent on this issue, but then unexpectedly released a fix.

A patch was provided in Windows 11 stable builds 25H2 (26200.7019) and 24H2 (26100.7019) to ensure that the computer shuts down correctly after installing updates. The developers have not yet explained the root cause of the computer restarting instead of shutting down as expected. Unconfirmed reports suggest the problem is related to the Servicing Stack service, the operating system component responsible for managing all update installations.

When a user selects "Update and Shut Down," the system must perform two sequential tasks: apply all pending updates and then shut down the computer. Due to timing conflicts or interference from features like Fast Startup, the shutdown command is likely lost during the restart process.