Can't start Windows 11 in S mode from a recovery drive

Windows 11 in S mode has security policies that ensure the system runs securely. When you try to start Windows 11 in S mode from a recovery drive, the system may fail to start because of a missing policy. To work around this issue, you can copy the policy file to a designated location of the drive by using one of the following methods.

Copy the policy file from the recovery drive

Follow these steps to check whether the recovery drive includes the policy file, and then copy the file to a designated location of the drive.

1. Insert or connect the recovery drive to your computer.
2. Open File Explorer, go to the <Recovery Drive>:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot folder, and check if the winsipolicy.p7b file is in the folder.
3. If the winsipolicy.p7b file is in the folder, copy the file to the <Recovery Drive>:\EFI\Boot folder.

Copy the policy file from another Windows computer

If the recovery drive doesn't include the policy file, copy the file from another Windows computer.

1. Insert or connect the recovery drive to another Windows computer.
2. Open File Explorer, go to the C:\Windows\Boot\EFI folder, and copy the winsipolicy.p7b file to the <Recovery Drive>:\EFI\Boot folder.

Status

This issue will be resolved in a future Windows servicing update, and this article will be updated when the servicing update is released.