Windows 11 KB5083769 April 2026 update triggers death loops and BSODs

Microsoft's April 2026 Patch Tuesday update for Windows 11 is causing serious boot failures on a subset of machines. Users running KB5083769 on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 are reporting that their PCs crash into a loop they cannot escape from without manual intervention.

What is happening

Reports surfaced on Microsoft's own Learn Q&A forums within days of the update's April 14 release. Affected users describe a consistent sequence: the update installs, the machine restarts, and the screen fills with a mosaic of pixelated graphics before dropping into a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Windows then prompts for recovery, but attempting it sends the PC straight back into the same broken boot cycle.

One user reported the issue on an HP Pavilion running an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with a GTX 1080 Ti. A separate commenter confirmed the same symptoms on a Dell desktop, and noted that three other people in their company hit the same wall.

Beyond the death loop, KB5083769 is also bringing back a familiar headache. Microsoft quietly added a known issue after release, confirming the update can force some PCs into BitLocker recovery on restart. The update is also triggering an unusual number of reboots during installation, with some machines cycling through four or more restarts before the process completes.

What to do

Microsoft has not issued an out-of-band fix for the death loop at the time of writing. For affected machines, the recommended path is to enter the Windows Recovery Environment.

If System Restore fails, Startup Repair is the next option. A local reinstall through Reset this PC is the last resort if neither of those works. Users who can still boot normally should consider pausing Windows Update temporarily while Microsoft investigates.