Having trouble updating windows 10?
Installing Windows 10 updates allows you to experience new features, handle new security threats, and improve system performance. But you may also encounter problems such as not being able to search for new update, getting stuck in the download process, or eventually failing to install it. In these cases, you can try following methods to reset Windows Update in Windows 10.
Method 1. Fix errors via Windows Update Troubleshooter
Windows Update Troubleshooter is designed to fix downloading or installing errors or Windows updates. If you receive any error code during updating, you can give it a try.
1. In Windows 10, you could run it by selecting Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters > Windows Update > Run the troubleshooter.
If you can’t find the Additional troubleshooters option, then you can find it in Control Panel (view it by large icons or small icons) > Troubleshooting > View all > Windows Update.
2. By running this troubleshooter, you can detect and resolve problems that prevent you from updating Windows. If you are given the option, you can also “Try troubleshooting as an administrator”.
Method 2. Repair corrupted system files with Command Prompt
Windows Update problems could be caused by corrupted system files. For this situation, you can use SFC or DISM to fix it.
1. Search for “Command Prompt” in Windows 10, and run it as administrator.
2. Type this SFC command and press Enter to check and fix system files:
sfc /scannow
If you can’t run SFC tool or SFC can’t fix the problem, you can also try DISM tool. The command is:
dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
After fixing corrupted system files, restart the computer to check if Windows Update works normally now.
Method 3. Clear Windows Update cache
Sometimes the corrupted or overloaded cache files could also cause problems, so you can clear Windows Update cache in Windows 10 to reset the download.
1. Before starting, you need to stop the Windows Update service. Search for “services” on the taskbar and run it as administrator. Then find “Windows Update” from the list and “Stop” it.
2. Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download, and delete all the files in it. Thus the Windows Update cache is cleared.
3. Select Windows Update service again by the path in Step 1, and “Start” it.
Then you can try checking for update and download it again.
Method 4. Reset Windows Update components and policies
A powerful way to fix this kind of issues is to reset Window Update components. Normally you can implement it by Command Prompt in Windows 10, but the steps are rather cumbersome. So instead of entering all the commands manually, you may want a Windows Update reset script to complete all the steps automatically.
Fortunately, you can find such a bat file for resetting Windows Update components.
Download the bat file from this page and follow the guide to run it. Thus most of Windows Update shall be resolved at once.
Method 5. Install the latest update manually
Similar to the last method, if you can’t download the update in Settings, you can manually download the update file to install it.
1. First, you should know the latest version of Windows 10. If you have problem searching for new update, then you can view the Windows 10 update history page and find the KB number of the latest version.
2. Search for the version number in Microsoft Update Catalog, it will provide you download links for different architectures (x86/ARM64/x64).
3. Run the downloaded file to install this Windows update.
After finishing and restarting, your update problems should be solved.
Precaution: Backup Windows 10 in case of any errors
Windows 10 is powerful but also fragile. In addition to update issues, there could be many other system errors caused by various reasons. If you don’t want to struggle troubleshooting them one after another, it’s necessary to develop a good backup mechanism.
Simply put, you can set up a regular system backup task all at once so that you can quickly restore your system to a previously functioning state if something goes wrong.
In this case, AOMEI Backupper Standard is a good choice. Its System Backup feature enables you to backup Windows OS to various devices, including internal/external drive, USB flash drive, NAS/network share and cloud.
You can easily set up a schedule to automate the task, and perform incremental or differential backup to save only changed files since the last backup.
When your update goes wrong, or you are unhappy with the updated OS, just revert the system to an earlier state that works perfectly.
In case the PC fails to boot, it’s also recommended to create a bootable media. Thus you can boot the faulty computer into WinPE for further operation.
