Most of the time Windows Update runs silently in the background. It automatically downloads updates, installs the ones it can, and registers others to install when you restart Windows. But sometimes it breaks and stops working. Here’s how to fix Windows Update when it crashes or freezes.

This can happen on Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11, but it’s become especially common with Windows 7. Sometimes updates hang, or sometimes Windows Update gets stuck “scanning for updates”. day” forever. Here’s how to fix Windows Update

Windows includes a built-in troubleshooter that can help you fix a stuck update. This is the easiest method to try, so run it first. The troubleshooter checks for issues that may be causing Windows Update to fail, such as incorrect security settings, missing or corrupt files, or service issues.

Windows 11: the novelties of the new Microsoft operating system

All modern versions of Windows use the same troubleshooter, but the procedure for accessing it varies slightly from version to version. In Windows 11, it’s in Settings > Troubleshooting > Other convenience stores.

Click Start, type “Settings” in the search bar, then press Enter. Scroll down until you see “Troubleshooting” and click on it.

Make sure you are on the system tab, then scroll down until you see “Troubleshooting”, then click “Troubleshooting”.

Click on “Other Troubleshooters” in the “Troubleshoot” window.

Click on “Other Troubleshooters”.

Other Troubleshooting brings together most of the troubleshooting that comes with Windows in one place. We are looking for a troubleshooter titled “Windows Update”. If you’ve never used it before, you’ll need to scroll down a bit to find it. If not, it may be in your “Frequent” list. Once you find it, click “Run”.

Click “Run”.

Once the troubleshooter is launched, follow the on-screen recommendations.
Repair Windows Update using a troubleshooter, regardless of Windows version.< /p>

This troubleshooter is available on Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11. It can be accessed through Control Panel in all versions of Windows as of March 2022.

To run the troubleshooter, click the Start button, search for “Troubleshooting”, then run the “Troubleshooting” shortcut by clicking on it or pressing the Enter key if it is highlighted.

Click “Troubleshoot” in the start menu.

In the list of troubleshooters in the Control Panel, under the “System and Security” section, click “Fix Windows update problems”.

Click “Fix problems with Windows Update”.

In the Windows Update Troubleshoot window, click “Advanced”.

Click “advanced”.

In advanced settings, make sure “Apply repairs automatically” is checked, click “Run as administrator”, then click “Next”. Giving the tool administrative privileges ensures that it can delete files in the download cache.

Check the “Apply repairs automatically” box, then click “Run as administrator”.

The troubleshooter performs their procedure and lets you know if they were able to identify and resolve the problem. Most of the time, the troubleshooter manages to remove a stuck update from the queue. Try running Windows Update again. Even if the troubleshooter indicates that they could not identify the problem, it is possible that the actions of starting and stopping the service and clearing the cache were effective.

To go further: How to fix Windows Update and Microsoft Store error 0x80070424?

If you’re still having trouble after running the troubleshooter (or if you’re the type to like doing things yourself), performing the same actions manually can help where the troubleshooter didn’t succeed. We’ll also add an extra step of booting into Safe Mode first, to make sure Windows can really get rid of that Windows Update download cache.

Start by starting Windows in safe mode. In Windows 7, restart your computer and press the “F8” key on your computer while it boots up to access the boot options menu, where you will find a “Safe Mode” option. In Windows 8, 10 and 11, hold down the “Shift” key when you click on the Windows “Restart” option and go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Windows Startup Settings > Restart > Safe Mode.

It’s a little more complicated than before on the latest versions of Windows, but it’s still quite simple. Of course, if you want, you can also take the time to add safe mode to the Windows start menu to make things easier in the future.

Start Windows 8 in safe mode.

Once you’ve booted into Safe Mode, the next step is to stop the Windows Update service, and the easiest way to do this is through the Command Prompt. To launch Command Prompt in Windows 7, open the Start menu, search for “Command Prompt” and launch the Command Prompt shortcut.

You will also find it in Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. In Windows 8, 10, or 11, you can right-click the Start menu (or press Windows+X), choose “Command Prompt (Admin)”, then click Yes to allow it to run with administrative privileges.

Press Windows+x, then click “Command Prompt (Admin)”.

In the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter to stop the Windows Update service. Leave the command prompt window open.

net stop wuauserv

Stop the Windows Update service in the command prompt.

Next, open a File Explorer window and navigate to C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution. Delete all files in this folder. Do not worry. There is nothing vital here. Windows Update will recreate what it needs the next time you run it.

Select the contents of the “Software Distribution folder”.

Now you will restart the Windows Update service. Return to the Command Prompt window, type the following, then press Enter:

net start wuauserv

Restart the Windows Update service.

When the service has restarted, you can close the command prompt and restart Windows in normal mode. Try Windows Update again and see if your issue has been resolved.

Windows 7: update the Windows update service

If you are installing Windows 7 from scratch, you will notice that Windows Update takes a long time to check for updates. It can also happen if you haven’t checked for updates for a while even if you installed your Windows 7 system a long time ago.

This happens even if you install Windows 7 from a disc or USB drive with Service Pack 1 built in, which you should. Microsoft’s official Windows 7 installation media downloads include SP1.

Microsoft has now provided official instructions on how to resolve this issue. According to Microsoft, this problem occurs because Windows Update itself needs an update, which creates a kind of deadlock. If the latest updates from Windows Update are installed, the process should work better.

Here are the official instructions from Microsoft for fixing this problem.

First, open Windows Update. Go to Control Panel > System & Security > Windows Update. Click the “Change Settings” link in the sidebar. Select “Never check for updates (not recommended)” from the drop-down list, then click “OK”.

Disable automatic checking for updates.

Restart your computer after changing this setting.

Click “restart”.

After the computer restarts, you will need to manually download and install two updates for Windows 7. You will need to check whether you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows and download the appropriate updates for your PC .

For 64-bit editions of Windows 7, download these updates:

KB3020369 April 2015 Service Stack Update for Windows 7 (64-bit version)
KB3172605, July 2016 Update for Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit version).

For 32-bit editions of Windows 7:, download these updates:

KB3020369, April 2015 Service Stack Update for Windows 7 (32-bit version)
KB3172605, July 2016 Update rollup for Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit version)

Updates to fix Windows 7 Update Service.

Double-click the “KB3020369” update to install it first.

Once the installation of the first update is complete, double-click the “KB3172605” update to install it second. You will be asked to restart the computer during the installation process. After restarting, Microsoft says you should wait ten to twelve minutes for the process to complete.

Install updates.

When you’re done – remember to wait ten to twelve minutes after restarting – go back to the Windows Update dialog in Control Panel > System & Security > Windows Update. Click “Change Settings” and return the system to automatic mode (or choose the setting of your choice).

Click “Check for Updates” to have Windows check for and install updates. According to Microsoft, this should have resolved your issues and Windows Update should now work normally without long delays.

Allow Windows to check for updates.

Windows 7: Get the “Convenience Rollup”.

Microsoft has also produced a “convenience rollup” for Windows 7. It’s basically Windows 7 Service Pack 2 except for the name. It bundles a lot of updates that would take a long time to install normally. This package includes updates released from February 2011 through May 16, 2016.

To speed up updating a new Windows 7 system, download the handy rollup and install it rather than waiting for Windows Update. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t offer the update rollup through Windows Update – you have to take a detour to get it. But it’s pretty easy to install if you know it exists and you know you need to look for it after installing Windows 7.

There will be far fewer updates to install through Windows Update after installing this program, which should make the process much faster. See our instructions on installing the Convenience Rollup here.

Double-click the download to install.

If none of the official solutions solved your problem, we have another solution that has worked for us in the past. This is a third-party tool called WSUS Offline Update.

This tool downloads Windows Update packages available from Microsoft and installs them. Run it once, have it download those updates and install them, and Windows Update should work normally after that. This method has worked for us in the past when no other solution has worked.

Download WSUS Offline Update, extract it to a folder and run the UpdateGenerator.exe application.

Extract WSUS Offline, then double-click “UpdateGenerator”.

Select the version of Windows you are using: “x64 Global” if you are using a 64-bit edition or “x86 Global” if you are using a 32-bit edition. Then click “Start” and WSUS Offline Update will download the updates.

Select relevant updates.

Wait for updates to download. If this is a new installation of Windows 7, there will be a lot of updates, which may take some time. It depends on the speed of your internet connection and how fast Microsoft’s download servers are for you.

Wait for downloads to complete.

Once the updates have finished downloading, open the “client” folder in the WSUS Offline folder and run the UpdateInstaller.exe application.

Double-click “UpdateInstaller” to install the updates you downloaded.

Click “Start” to install downloaded updates. Once the tool has finished installing updates, Windows Update should function normally again.

Click “Start”.

Hopefully this will get a little easier in the future. In October 2016, Microsoft announced that it was making changes to how Windows 7 and 8.1 are “serviced”, or updated. Microsoft plans to release fewer small updates and more large update packages.

It will also start combining previous updates into a monthly update rollup. As a result, there will be fewer individual updates to install, and updating newly installed Windows 7 systems should become faster over time.

Manually downloading Microsoft updates

If you’re using Windows 11, or if the other methods don’t work for some reason, you can always manually download updates from Microsoft.

You must first determine what updates have been released for your operating system. You can find a complete list of updates on Microsoft’s help site. For example, if you are looking for Windows 11 updates, type “Windows 11 update history” in the search bar and press enter. The first result is probably what you want – it should match your search term exactly.

The Update History page displays, on the left, all updates released for the operating system. Clicking on any of them will give you more detailed information about the specific features of the update, when it was released, and any installation requirements.

Mach 8e update for Windows 11.

Identify the update(s) you wish to download, then scroll down the page until you find a section titled “Install this update”. This section contains a link to the Windows Updates Catalog. Click the link, and you’ll be directed to the specific update you need.

Click on the “Microsoft Updates Catalog” link.

Look at the list and determine which version of the update you need – if you’re using a desktop computer, it’s definitely the “for x64-based systems” version. If you have a laptop or tablet, you will need to check which processor you have.

As of March 2022, there are no AMD or Intel ARM-based CPUs, so if it’s made by one of these, you can safely use the x64 update. If you see Qualcomm, you definitely need the ARM update.

Click “Download” to get the correct update.

Find the update for your system, then click “Download”.

Click the file name in the pop-up window to begin the download, then wait – Windows updates are regularly several hundred megabytes in size, which can take a few minutes.

Click on the file name in the pop-up window.

Press Ctrl+j to open your downloads, then click on the file you just downloaded. It will check your system, then offer to allow the installation; click “Yes”.

Click “Yes”.

Once the installation is complete, you must restart your computer for the update to take effect.

If you install updates manually, you need to be very diligent. New vulnerabilities are discovered every day, and keeping Windows up to date is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself.

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