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In summary:
- Windows 11’s May update (KB5089549) creates a new ‘SecureBoot’ folder that contains scripts for IT professionals to manage upcoming certificate updates.
- PCWorld explains this folder addresses Secure Boot certificate expirations in June that could disable security features and increase system vulnerability.
- The folder provides automated deployment tools to help maintain active Secure Boot protection and system security through proper certificate management.
Over the past few days, some users have noticed that a new folder appears after installing May’s Windows 11 update (KB5089549), the same update that’s failing to install on some machines. This new folder is found in the Windows system directory under the name “SecureBoot” and it may not be immediately clear what this directory is for.
But if you’ve been keeping up, you’ll recall that Windows Secure Boot certificates are expiring next month. If certificates remain outdated on a system, they won’t be supported anymore starting in June and affected PCs will no longer be able to use Secure Boot, rendering their systems more vulnerable to malware and hacks. Microsoft has been rolling out new certificates to machines via Windows Update—if you keep your system updated, you’ll likely head into June without issues.
So, what about the new SecureBoot folder? The company explains on this support page what the new folder does:
This update adds a new SecureBoot folder under C:\Windows on eligible devices. The folder contains example scripts intended for organizations with IT professionals who actively manage updates across their device fleet. These scripts can be used to detect Secure Boot certificate update status and automate deployment via a safe rollout mechanism in an Active Directory environment. For more information, see Sample Secure Boot E2E Automation Guide.
In short, Microsoft provided a folder full of scripts that company IT admins can use to automatically check and push Secure Boot certificate updates across all machines on a company network.
Should you delete the SecureBoot folder?
For home Windows users, the folder doesn’t change anything for the time being. You don’t need to do anything with it or make any changes to it. However, deleting the SecureBoot folder is not recommended.
Windows Latest explicitly discourages removal of this folder, as doing so could cause problems with future Windows updates. For example, if the Windows Update process searches your system for that folder and doesn’t find it, you may run into unexpected error messages.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.