Once again, an update of Windows 11 does not go as planned by bringing new problems. The latest blocks blocks Windows Hello, preventing facial recognition on certain PCs.
Definitely, Windows 11 updates are more and more like lottery prints, with their unlucky share. The latest, stamped KB50555523 and deployed for a few days in the Tuesday patch of April 2025 (see our article), is a perfect example. Intended to correct several persistent bugs while filling in safety flaws, this cumulative update has caused a particularly annoying unexpected side effect in certain users by blocking Purely and simply Windows Hello, the Microsoft flagship biometric authentication system.
For the past few days, many users have reported that Windows Hello facial recognition has no longer managed to identify their faces. Come underlines Windows Latestthe testimonies flock to the hub of official comments and the specialized forums: on the screen, the error message is relentless, displaying a laconic “impossible to recognize you”. A situation all the more frustrating as the most affected configurations are precisely those which had made security a priority.
Windows hello bug: an uninstallation while waiting for a fix
In question, a dysfunction which mainly concerns devices equipped with infrared webcams, those precisely essential for facial recognition of Windows Hello. Before updating, it was common to deactivate the standard color camera for confidentiality reasons, while continuing to use the infrared sensor for biometric identification. This subtle balance shattered with the installation of KB5055523. Windows is now stubbornly refuses to rely only on the infrared camera. Result: on some computers, the connection screen remains desperately empty, while on others, the camera tries to operate before interrupting suddenly.
For the users concerned, the solutions are hardly pleasing. Some temporarily manage to bypass the problem by deactivating the color camera in the peripheral manager, which forces Windows to use the infrared sensor. But this tip remains random and not very durable. Worse still, reactivate the color camera is enough to plunge Windows Hello in its flaws.
The alternative? Purely and simply uninstall the problematic update, however, at the cost of depriving yourself of the latest security corrections – a dilemma to say the least uncomfortable. Especially since the KB5055523 does not just block Windows Hello: some users also report installation failures with errors such as 0x800704ec or 0x80070306.
For its part, Microsoft recognizes the existence of incidents linked to biometric authentication, without however establishing an official link with this precise update. And by specifying that the problem only concerns certain very specific configurations. One thing is certain: Redmond engineers now have an additional headache to be resolved. In the meantime, users will have to deal with temporary solutions or, more simply, return to the good old PIN codes.
This new episode would be comical if it was isolated. Fortunately, it does not concern everyone, and we have not encountered a problem by installing the KB5055523 version on several PCs under Windows 11. But it recalls what we have been repeating for a long time, and in particular since the arrival of Windows 11 which suffers from real lack of finish and quality: do not rush when an update appears!