I'm using a Surface Pro 7+ with Windows Hello for facial recognition. I have a sliding cover over the main camera lens, and it's never caused a problem because Windows Hello typically uses the IR camera for recognizing my face. However, ever since the last Patch Tuesday, I can no longer unlock my laptop using facial recognition and have had to resort to using my PIN instead. I even tried removing and re-adding the facial recognition; it worked fine during the enrollment process using the IR camera while the cover was on. Yet, when it comes to unlocking my computer, it won't work unless the main camera can see me. I found it odd that it doesn't use the IR sensor during unlocking like it did before. Did they change something with this update?
2 Answers
Yeah, I've had similar issues since the last updates. I reckon there were some adjustments made to how Windows Hello operates with camera access. Like you, my PIN is serving as my only way in now. I hope they roll out a fix soon because it's frustrating when things worked seamlessly before!
It seems you’re not alone with this issue. There have been reports since the April 2025 updates that have affected Windows Hello on various devices. Many people have been experiencing problems similar to yours, especially if they have camera covers. It's possible that Microsoft made some changes to how Windows Hello interacts with the cameras, leaving the IR sensor out for unlocking. I'd recommend keeping an eye on updates or patches that could possibly fix this soon. You can check the latest news articles about this problem for more info!
I encountered similar issues! My PIN works fine, but facial recognition fails to unlock. It's puzzling since it worked perfectly before. Hopefully, Microsoft will address these changes in future updates.