Windows Update and Shutdown Fixed: KB5067036 Now Powers Off After Updates

Microsoft has quietly corrected the maddening “Update and shut down” behavior that for years sometimes left Windows machines powered on after updates — the October 28, 2025 preview cumulative update (KB5067036) and related Insider builds now include a servicing change that ensures the system honors a user’s choice to install updates and then power off.

Background​

For a surprising number of Windows users the Start menu’s Update and shut down option became unreliable: you would select it, go to bed, and return to a machine that had installed updates but then restarted or waited on the lock screen instead of powering off. That behavior was intermittent and environment-dependent, occurring across a range of hardware and Windows configurations since the Windows 10 era in many reports. Microsoft acknowledged the problem in Insider release notes and rolled a fix into the October 28, 2025 optional preview package identified as KB5067036 (OS builds 26200.7019 for Windows 11 25H2 and 26100.7019 for 24H2). This is not a cosmetic relabeling. Microsoft’s changelog language — “Addressed underlying issue which can cause ‘Update and shutdown’ to not actually shut down your PC after updating” — indicates a change in the servicing orchestration that decides whether the final post-update action is a restart or a shutdown. That change first appeared in Insider preview flights and was then included in the optional preview cumulative update, following Microsoft’s standard staged rollout model.

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What actually went wrong (concise technical primer)​

At the high level the failure was not simply a mislabeled button — it was a consequence of several subsystems interacting during update installation. The key technical contributors were:

• Multi‑phase servicing: Modern Windows updates are often staged while the OS runs and then completed during offline servicing that occurs on reboot or shutdown. Some updates require more than one commit step and may force additional reboots to correctly replace core components.
• Fast Startup (hybrid shutdown): When Fast Startup is enabled, Windows does a hybrid shutdown that preserves kernel session state to speed boot time. That hybrid semantics can change shutdown vs reboot behavior and interact poorly with offline servicing logic.
• Sign‑in / resume behaviors: Features such as Use my sign‑in info to finish setting up my device change whether certain configuration steps complete automatically after a restart, which in turn can affect the servicing flow’s decision to restart or power off.
• Driver and process handoffs: If a driver or a component cannot be safely swapped without a running session, the servicing stack may prefer a restart.

Those interlocking systems created timing and race‑condition scenarios in which the shutdown intention was lost or superseded by a necessary restart path. Microsoft’s remediation modifies the orchestration layer — the control flow that coordinates offline servicing, reboot requirements, and final power-state — so the user’s explicit shutdown choice is respected when possible.

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What Microsoft shipped in KB5067036 (what to expect)​

The October 28, 2025 preview package KB5067036 contains both feature polish and servicing fixes. For the “Update and shut down” issue the important facts are:

• The preview is labeled October 28, 2025—KB5067036 (OS Builds 26200.7019 and 26100.7019) Preview. It applies to Windows 11 version 25H2 and 24H2.
• The KB changelog explicitly includes the line: “Addressed underlying issue which can cause ‘Update and shutdown’ to not actually shut down your PC after updating.” That is the key engineering note.
• Microsoft staged the fix via Insider rings and then offered it as an optional preview before including it in the broader Patch Tuesday cumulative update scheduled for November 11, 2025 (the planned mainstream rollout window).

What users will notice:

• After installing the preview LCU+SSU (the combined servicing stack update and cumulative update), more systems behave deterministically: selecting Update and shut down applies updates and powers off rather than returning to the lock screen.
• The fix is a servicing orchestration change: the update adjusts how Windows sequences offline servicing and the final power-state decision, rather than only changing a label or message.

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How to get the fix today (step‑by‑step)​

If you want the fix immediately and your device is eligible, follow this tested sequence. These steps reflect Microsoft’s recommended rollout for optional preview updates and standard Windows Update UI navigation.

• Confirm you are running a supported Windows 11 build (25H2 or 24H2).
• Open Settings → Windows Update and install the Windows 11 25H2 feature update if you haven’t already.
• After the 25H2 feature update is installed and the device is on the matching servicing baseline, go to Settings → Windows Update → Advanced options → Optional updates.
• In the Optional updates area look for KB5067036 (the October 28, 2025 preview cumulative update) and install it — the package bundles an LCU and a servicing stack update (SSU).
• Reboot when prompted and validate the behavior: choose Update and shut down from the Start menu power options and confirm the device powers off after the update sequence.

Notes and cautions:

• Optional preview updates are useful for early access but can include unrelated feature changes. Test on a non‑production machine before widespread deployment.
• If you prefer to wait, Microsoft intends to roll this fix into the regular November Patch Tuesday cumulative update for all eligible machines. That broader distribution reduces the risk of encountering preview-only regressions and is safer for managed environments.

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The good: why this is a meaningful fix​

• Restores a basic UX promise. A small, reliable UI action matters. Users rely on the Start menu semantics; making that simple action deterministic removes friction and restores trust.
• Practical power and privacy benefits. Laptop batteries and power bills can be affected by devices that stay on unexpectedly overnight. Predictable shutdowns reduce unnecessary power consumption and lessen exposure of a device left powered on.
• Eases administrative friction. IT admins and automation scripts that expect deterministic power‑state behavior can now rely on Update‑and‑Shutdown workflows more confidently, simplifying maintenance windows and imaging scenarios.
• Reasonable rollout cadence. Microsoft validated the fix in Insider builds, then offered it as an optional preview before bundling into the regular Patch Tuesday distribution — a standard path that balances early access and telemetry-driven validation.

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The risks: the update also brought regressions — proceed with caution​

A very important caveat: preview updates frequently carry unrelated changes and, as several independent outlets and community threads reported after KB5067036 went live, the October preview introduced a reproducible Task Manager regression and other sporadic regressions on some systems. These secondary issues demonstrate the trade-off of installing optional preview updates early. Reported problems include:

• Task Manager duplication / lingering processes: Multiple publications and user reports documented a bug where closing Task Manager with the Close (X) button fails to terminate the process, leaving additional background taskmgr.exe instances that can accumulate and consume resources. Workarounds include using Task Manager’s End task or running taskkill /im taskmgr.exe /f from an elevated prompt. Microsoft acknowledged the symptom in the KB’s Known Issues section and said it’s under investigation.
• Other anecdotal regressions: Community threads reported isolated problems after installing the preview, including oddities with Storage Spaces, USB device recognition, or performance impacts on some configurations. These were not universal but underscore why optional previews carry higher operational risk.

Best practices given these risks:

• Do not install preview optional packages like KB5067036 on production machines until you have tested them in a pilot ring.
• If you install and encounter regressions, uninstall the preview LCU (where possible) and file diagnostics — gather repro steps, Event Viewer entries, and reliability data.
• Use the November Patch Tuesday cumulative update when it arrives for the broad rollout unless you need the fix immediately and can absorb the preview risk.

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What the community and press validated​

Independent verification matters. Microsoft’s support article documents the fix and relevant OS builds; Windows‑focused outlets and community trackers corroborated the timeline and reproduced the behavior change in lab conditions and on test VMs. Multiple outlets reported on the fix and the subsequent Task Manager regression, giving a balanced view: the fix is real and meaningful, but the preview release highlighted the perennial trade-off of early access versus stability. Community reporting also helps illuminate nuance: the bug’s intermittent nature was why it persisted for years — it appeared only under certain combinations of update payload, Fast Startup settings, sign‑in finishing options, drivers, and background processes. That complexity made it difficult to reproduce comprehensively in laboratory testing, which in turn lengthened the time to a robust fix. The staged Insider → preview → Patch Tuesday pathway is how Microsoft collects the cross‑device telemetry needed to ensure the change is safe at scale.

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Recommendations for home users and IT admins​

Home users

• If your priority is immediate correctness for Update and shut down and you can tolerate preview risk, install KB5067036 from Optional updates after moving to Windows 11 25H2 and test the behavior on a spare device first.
• If you prefer stability, wait for the November Patch Tuesday cumulative update that will carry the same fix to general availability.
• Keep an eye out for the Task Manager duplication symptom; if you see it, use taskkill /im taskmgr.exe /f or End task as a mitigation and consider uninstalling the preview on affected systems.

IT administrators / enterprise

• Pilot KB5067036 in a test ring that represents your environment (drivers, vendor agents, domain policies).
• Validate both update-and-shutdown behavior and standard user workflows (including sign-in finishing workflows and Fast Startup interactions).
• Delay broad deployment until Microsoft releases the November cumulative update, unless your pilot shows the preview is clean in your environment.
• Monitor Microsoft’s Windows release health dashboard and official KB page for updates and any escalations.

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What remains unverified or unclear​

• Microsoft’s KB phrasing is intentionally concise and does not disclose the exact internal code paths or the root‑cause race condition that allowed the shutdown command to be lost in some cases. That level of engineering detail has not been publicly documented, so any deeper claims about the exact race condition or kernel-level fix are speculative without Microsoft’s internal engineering notes. Treat precise root‑cause narratives as provisional until Microsoft publishes a detailed post‑mortem.

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Final assessment​

This is a welcome, pragmatic correction to a small but widely felt usability failure. Fixing the Update and shut down behavior restores a basic expectation of the Windows power UI and reduces real-world inconvenience — especially for mobile users and administrators relying on deterministic update workflows. The remediation’s path through Insider preview builds, a staged optional preview (KB5067036), and planned inclusion in the November Patch Tuesday update is textbook: validate, broaden testing, then ship.
That said, the KB5067036 preview also reinforces an old lesson: fixes can sometimes introduce regressions. The Task Manager duplication and scattered anecdotal issues highlight why optional preview updates are best exercised in a test ring before production deployment. For most users, waiting for the mainstream November cumulative update will be the safest route; for those who need the fix immediately, install on non-critical devices, test, and be prepared to roll back if you see regressions.
Windows users get a small but meaningful win: when Windows now says it will “Update and shut down,” it is increasingly likely to do exactly that — provided you take the usual precautions around optional previews and validate in your environment.

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Source: Pocket-lint Microsoft finally just squashed one of Windows 11's most annoying bugs