I want to undo a "Clear TPM" request

Question

AT one time I wanted to clear the TPM on my computer. I no longer wish to do that.

Whenever I restart the computer the Clear TPM message appears.

If I clear the TPM, will it automatically restart when the computer is rebooted?

Thanks for the help,

John Hamel

Answer 1

According to the instruction here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/hardware-security/tpm/initialize-and-configure-ownership-of-the-tpm

So yes, it will be automatically prepared for use by Windows. A catch here though, if your computer has bitlocker encryption enabled, it will want to ask for the bitlocker key. Make sure you have the key first.

Check your Microsoft account for the key: https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

When you restart, it usually should ask you to confirm if you want to clear, if not, you should see No, Cancel option, for example. Wording depends on the device manufacturer.

Answer 2

The recurring “Clear TPM” prompt is controlled by policy; it does not mean the TPM will clear itself automatically. Clearing the TPM is a manual, destructive action and does not re‑trigger automatically unless a policy or state problem remains.

To stop the “Clear TPM” message without actually clearing the TPM, disable the policy that is forcing the prompt:

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor (on Windows editions where it is available).
2. Go to: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Trusted Platform Module Services.
3. Locate the setting Configure the system to clear the TPM if it isn't in a ready state.
4. Set this policy to Disabled (or leave it Not configured if it was explicitly Enabled).
5. Restart the computer.

When this policy is disabled, Windows will no longer prompt to clear the TPM at each reboot.

If the device is managed by an organization (work/school), this setting may be enforced via MDM/Intune using the ClearTPMIfNotReady policy. In that case, the organization’s IT administrator must change the policy.

Regarding the second question: if the TPM is actually cleared (for example, via Windows Security or TPM.msc), Windows will automatically reinitialize and take ownership of the TPM after the next restart, but all existing TPM keys and data protected by those keys will be lost.

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References:

• Policy CSP - Security
• TPM Group Policy settings
• Troubleshoot the TPM
• Clear TPM fails with error code: 0x80290300