Microsoft fixes bug that wiped Windows desktop settings

Microsoft says the September 2026 Patch Tuesday updates fix a known issue causing desktop settings to be lost or reset on some Windows devices.

As the company explained last week, this bug is triggered after installing the KB5120998 August 2026 preview update on Windows 11 24H2 and Windows 11 25H2 systems, and it may affect the wallpaper, the desktop theme, and other settings.

Additionally, because of this known issue, users will also be unable to restore their custom settings on affected devices.

"Following installation of Windows updates released August 27 2026 (KB5120998) and later, some Windows Desktop settings fail to load, resulting in desktop backgrounds displaying as a solid black color," Microsoft said in a Windows release health update.

"On affected devices, attempting to manually restore customized settings does not work. This is because the issue prevents the correct loading of settings, regardless of their value. In this case, a default black background is used instead."