Windows' original Secure Boot certificates expire in June—here's what you need to do

February 11, 2026
Windows' original Secure Boot certificates expire in June—here's what you need to do

Here's something that caught my attention — Microsoft just issued a warning that the original Secure Boot certificates, which have been safeguarding Windows since 2011, are about to expire this June. Now, why does this matter? Well, Secure Boot is a key security feature that verifies your PC’s startup process, making sure no untrusted software sneaks in. According to Andrew Cunningham at Ars Technica, these certificates are like the digital gatekeepers, and their expiration could cause headaches if systems aren’t updated. But here’s where it gets interesting — Microsoft and PC makers have been planning this for months, renewing certificates behind the scenes. For most users, it’s a routine update, and problems only show up if the certificates aren’t renewed in time. So, what does this mean for you? Keep an eye out for updates — your system might need a quick nudge to stay secure, or you could face boot issues. As Cunningham notes, staying ahead with these updates is just part of keeping your tech safe in today’s landscape.

Windows 8 is remembered most for its oddball touchscreen-focused full-screen Start menu, but it also introduced a number of under-the-hood enhancements to Windows. One of those was UEFI Secure Boot, a mechanism for verifying PC bootloaders to ensure that unverified software can't be loaded at startup. Secure Boot was enabled but technically optional for Windows 8 and Windows 10, but it became a formal system requirement for installing Windows starting with Windows 11 in 2021.

Secure Boot has relied on the same security certificates to verify bootloaders since 2011, during the development cycle for Windows 8. But those original certificates are set to expire in June and October of this year, something Microsoft is highlighting in a post today.

This certificate expiration date isn't news—Microsoft and most major PC makers have been talking about it for months or years, and behind-the-scenes work to get the Windows ecosystem ready has been happening for some time. And renewing security certificates is a routine occurrence that most users only notice when something goes wrong.

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Audio Transcript

Windows 8 is remembered most for its oddball touchscreen-focused full-screen Start menu, but it also introduced a number of under-the-hood enhancements to Windows. One of those was UEFI Secure Boot, a mechanism for verifying PC bootloaders to ensure that unverified software can't be loaded at startup. Secure Boot was enabled but technically optional for Windows 8 and Windows 10, but it became a formal system requirement for installing Windows starting with Windows 11 in 2021.

Secure Boot has relied on the same security certificates to verify bootloaders since 2011, during the development cycle for Windows 8. But those original certificates are set to expire in June and October of this year, something Microsoft is highlighting in a post today.

This certificate expiration date isn't news—Microsoft and most major PC makers have been talking about it for months or years, and behind-the-scenes work to get the Windows ecosystem ready has been happening for some time. And renewing security certificates is a routine occurrence that most users only notice when something goes wrong.

Read full article

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