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I have Windows 11 Pro Version 10.0.26200 Build 26200
I sign in to this PC with my Microsoft account. I sign in to no less than 4 PCs with this same account. Only this one machine has the following issue.
Whenever there is a Windows update that restarts my machine, I am signed out of all accounts, MS and third party.
It seems there is some entity on my machine that all accounts are tied to in order to "remember" my sign in state that does not persist of post-update reboot. It is insanely annoying to come to my PC to find it restarted and I know I will spend the next 15-20 minutes running through sign-ins, AGAIN.
My question is, if I have zero trouble like this on other Windows 11 Pro machines, what about this one could cause it?
I have formatted and reinstalled Windows from scratch twice. Didn't save any settings. Formatted the drive, and set it up as a new machine both times.
I feel like it has to be hardware related somehow. But where do I even start to look?
I have googled this issue extensively over the last year or so. I have tried every solution I can find with no luck whatesoever. I am at a loss as to what to try next.
Thanks for any help that is offered!
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I am dealing with this too. It’s infuriating. How did you fix it?
Windows 11 is still weird about credential persistence. It's not as bad after the changes I made, but I still randomly have to log back into accounts - even my Microsoft account for OneDrive, etc. Does this at home and at work, so it's not a certain machine or account.
At home is where I had the biggest issues. I jumped into ChatGPT and went back and forth with it trying to find every setting in BIOS that could affect credential persistence. Most of this revolved around Secure Boot, Keys, and TPM. I wish I could tell you exactly which settings I changed. But mostly, make sure your Secure Boot and all settings surrounding it are correct. Once you're reasonably confident the BIOS/TPM settings are correct, I'd wipe and reinstall Windows on top of the new secure BIOS/TPM settings. That is your best bet for removing most of the credential persistence issues.
What bugs me the most is I have installed Windows (even Windows 11) dozens of times at home and at work and I have only seen this issue once. I didn't mess with my BIOS settings in any way that would affect Secure Boot (most of the time I don't touch any settings in BIOS unless I absolutely have to). All of the Secure Boot settings were left at defaults (as usual). So why it got all screwed up on my home machine is anyone's guess.
Good luck with it. It's definitely an infuriating issue!
Hi Matt, you're in a right track, Misconfigured Secure Boot can interfere with credential persistence, especially if Windows can't validate trusted keys after an update.
Now that you've switched to UEFI and Standard mode, that should help.
If the issue persists, consider checking your TPM status and Credential Manager to ensure credentials are being retained properly.
Chard
Hi Matt, Thanks for posting here in the Microsoft community, it sounds stressful especially since your other PCs don’t have this issue. Since you've already done clean installs, it might be worth checking if something like a faulty TPM, misconfigured Secure Boot, or a third-party cleanup tool is wiping your credentials on reboot. Also, try creating a new local user profile to rule out profile-specific issues.
What you can try, Check Credential Manager, ensure credentials are being saved properly. Corruption here could cause sign-in data loss.
Next, Review Group Policy or Registry Settings, look for policies that might clear credentials or user sessions on reboot.
Also, Check TPM & Secure Boot, If the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is malfunctioning or Secure Boot is misconfigured, it might prevent credentials from persisting.
You can try also, create a New Local Profile, Test if the issue persists with a fresh local user account to rule out profile corruption.
Also, Check for Third-Party Cleanup Tools, some security or privacy tools may clear saved sessions on reboot.
To better understand, have you checked if Credential Manager retains your saved credentials after a reboot, or are they being wiped as well?
Let me know how it goes.
Chard
I think you're right on the money. While waiting for an answer here, I checked my BIOS and noticed Secure Boot was set to Other OS and the mode was set to Custom. (ASUS Strix Z-790 mobo) When I saw that I got suspicious, so I started a chat with ChatGPT about it. At first it said no, probably not the cause until I explained about this being the only machine where I use my MS account that has this issue. And that I had done clean installs of Windows with the same issue persisting. So, then it ran me through all the reasons that Windows might drop the trusted keys especially during a reboot after an update. It also ran me through what to check in msinfo32 to see if Secure Boot, etc. was enabled and working. So, now I have Secure Boot enabled in BIOS (Windows UEFI and Standard mode) and confirmed enabled in msinfo32. Now I just have to wait for a new Windows Update reboot to see if the new settings fixed the issue.
