For those not in the know, WinRE is the last-resort toolkit for when your Windows 11 installation goes belly up. It loads outside the main operating system and lets you access files or fix boot issues. Except now, thanks to Microsoft’s stellar quality assurance, it stopped recognising USB input. That meant no keyboard, no mouse, and absolutely no way to click your way out of a system meltdown.

In what might be the fastest response seen this decade from Redmond, the company pushed out an “out of band” patch. Out of band patches are shorthand for “this is a major cock--up and we need to fix it quickly”. Update KB5070773 is now live and reverses the damage.

According to Microsoft Support: “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.”

Microsoft claims USB input still works just fine inside Windows itself, which is lovely unless you are already locked out by a system failure.

You should install this patch immediately through Windows Update. If that fails, and given Redmond’s recent track record it probably will, you can still fetch it manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Do it before something breaks or you will be staring at a non-functional recovery screen with no way to click for help.