- Microsoft has explained why some standard monthly updates require multiple reboots of late
- This is due to extra changes the update packs for Secure Boot certificates
- The rebooting behavior has made some Windows 11 users worry the update is going wrong, but rest assured, everything is working as intended
Microsoft has explained why Windows 11 updates are taking a lot longer recently, and in some cases can require multiple reboots – and thankfully, this isn't anything to worry about.
Windows Latest spotted that Microsoft posted a message to its Windows release health dashboard to note that: "With recent and upcoming Windows updates over the next few months, a limited number of consumer and business devices might experience one additional restart during installation. This one‑time restart occurs after a Secure Boot certificate update is applied as part of the Secure Boot update process."
So, this is due to the Secure Boot certificate changes that Microsoft let us know about earlier in the year, informing us they would be part of the monthly cumulative updates for Windows 11 (and Windows 10, for those on extended support).
While Microsoft indicates that affected Windows 11 users should expect one additional reboot, meaning two in total with the update in question, Windows Latest observes that some people have reported three reboots.
Analysis: multiple reboots can trigger an impending sense of doom
The issue here is that usually a monthly update for Windows 11 needs just a single reboot to be applied. Given that, when your PC restarts for a third time during what should be a simple, relatively limited update, it's only natural to start fearing that something's wrong and that your system has gone off the rails – or maybe into a repeating boot loop.
The dreaded boot loop is one of the most unpleasant problems you can encounter, with the PC stuck rebooting over and over, meaning you have to go into the recovery menu to try potentially tricky solutions to right things and actually get to the Windows 11 desktop again.
At any rate, at least now you know about this behavior – and you might experience it in the May update for Windows 11 potentially, which arrives a week today. These Secure Boot changes had a wider rollout in April, and will be deployed to more folks this month.
If you're wondering why Secure Boot is needing any attention at all, this is because the mentioned certificates were issued in 2011 and expire in June 2026 – so they need to be updated with the new versions from 2023.
Secure Boot is an important feature in that it's designed to stop certain malware – the likes of rootkits – compromising your PC before it even loads the operating system (potentially flying totally under the radar).
Unfortunately, as Windows Latest further points out, there are some Windows 11 users who are having trouble receiving the new certificates due to firmware issues. In reality, then, as this is a necessary tweak for Secure Boot to continue keeping you safe, experiencing multiple reboots with your next update is likely a good sign, as it means the new certificate (should) hopefully be in place.
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