Like it or not, those who use Windows Update to obtain and install updates, patches, and fixes will occasionally encounter issues. Sometimes, a specific update may not download. At other times, an update may fail to install. Every now and then, Windows Update (a.k.a. WU) may refuse to interact with the Windows servers from which updates come.Thats where these steps come into play. Try these troubleshooting techniques in the order outlined below to get WU operational again.Although Ive illustrated the WU troubleshooting steps in Windows 11 here, the same techniques also work with Windows 10, with only minor variations. This story covers both Windows OSes quite nicely.1. If at first you dont succeedtry againThough the most basic of all troubleshooting techniques for Windows Update doesnt always work, it can help sometimes. That is, if WU fails to work as expected, the first thing to try is running the Windows Update request again.For best results, restart the target PC before trying again. Its not absolutely necessary, but it may clear some pending or transitory conditions (such as an already-downloaded update that needs to be applied, or some other pending system action) that will put Windows Update back to rights.Heres what to do (see Figures 1 and 2):1. Click Start, then the power button icon (far right), then Restart from its pop-up menu.Figure 1: After saving all work, click the power button in the Start menu (lower right), and then click Restart in the menu.Ed Tittel / Foundry2. When the desktop reappears, click Start > Settings > Windows Update, then click the Check for updates button.Figure 2: Click Start > Settings > Windows Update. Then click Check for updates. It may work!Ed Tittel / FoundryIn my own experience, this works one-quarter to one-half of the time when a WU problem manifests. The upload and install simply succeeds on a second try. Could it have been a download hiccup, or perhaps cosmic rays? Whatever: getting it on that next try is a good thing!But if restarting the PC provides no relief, move onto the next section.2. Try the Windows Update troubleshooter (or Get Help app)As the trite software saying goes, Theres an app for that. For common Windows issues which definitely include WU its equally valid to observe, Theres a troubleshooter for that.Troubleshooters are built-in Windows mini-apps meant to diagnose and fix specific Windows problems.In Windows 11, troubleshooters are being deprecated in favor of a new universal Get Help app, but for now, at least, the Windows Update troubleshooter remains the go-to for WU problems in both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Indeed, if you enter troubleshoot Windows Update errors into the Get Help app, it takes you to this very same troubleshooter.At some as-yet-unknown point in the future, that troubleshooter may be replaced with another tool available via Get Help. In the meantime, heres how to fire up the WU troubleshooter directly:1. Click Start > Settings.2. Insider the Settings app, type trouble into search. Youll see something like the list shown in Figure 3 appear. Click Troubleshoot Other problems.Figure 3: The WU troubleshooter falls under Troubleshoot Other problems.Ed Tittel / Foundry3. In the Other troubleshooters pane, Windows Update appears in position 4 (from top) under the Most frequent heading, as shown in Figure 4. Click the Run button at the right-hand side of that entry.Figure 4: Click the Run button to the right of Windows Update to launch that troubleshooter.Ed Tittel / Foundry4. The Windows Update troubleshooter runs in its own window. Youll pick one of two options: I cant download, install, or uninstall an update or I installed an update, but that update has caused a problem. Pick the one that matches your situation. (For this story, I picked I cant download) The troubleshooter asks permission to run an automated diagnostic. Choose Yes, and it runs be patient, this can take a minute or two.When it finishes, youll see a final report window like the one in Figure 5.Figure 5: When the error check completes, the troubleshooter asks if its fix worked. How can you tell?Ed Tittel / FoundryThe troubleshooter asks if its fix solved the problem, but its difficult to tell that without running another update check in WU. I usually answer Yes to the question shown in Figure 5, restart the PC, and run Windows Update again. Only then is the real Yes/No answer clear.In my experience, the WU troubleshooter actually fixes whats wrong one-third to one-half of the time. If it doesnt, advance to the next section, please.3. Completely reset WUIf the WU troubleshooter doesnt address your issue, there is heavier artillery you can bring to bear. Its fully described in the excellent Windows 11 Forum tutorial entitled Reset Windows Update in Windows 11. This tutorial includes a download link to a special batch file that turns off all WU related services, resets all Windows Update components and policies, then restarts all the services it turns off. (Theres a similar tutorial for resetting WU in Windows 10 on Windows 10 Forums, complete with its own batch file.)The download ends in a ZIP extension, so youll need to unzip it after you download. This will reveal the batch file named Reset_Reregister_Windows_Update_Components_for_Windows11.bat.Next, youll need to open an administrative command prompt or PowerShell session. (Type either cmdorpowershellin the Windows search box, right-clickCommand PromptorWindows PowerShellin the list of results, selectRun as administrator, and enter the password if prompted.)Next, navigate to the folder where the aforenamed batch file resides. (Its so handy, I keep it on the desktop on my Windows 10 and 11 PCs, as shown in Figure 6.)Figure 6: The filename is so long you need to open Properties to see it on the desktop.Ed Tittel / FoundryCut and paste the filename into the command line, and then hit theEnterkey to run it. Thats all there is to it.This batch file takes a while to run and involves checking and stopping WU services (bits, wuauserv, and cryptsvc). It then flushes the DNS cache, clears pending update requests, deletes temporary files and folders related to WU downloads, and resets Windows Update policies in the Windows Registry. Then it restarts the services it stopped, and finally ends by offering a Restart button. Use it, because the PC must restart for all these changes to take effect.Ive used this batch file on most of my Windows 10 and 11 PCs (and 7, 8, and 8.1 PCs before that), and its worked in every case except two to put WU back in action. On the machines where it failed, it turned out I had a hardware problem (a failing SSD) on one of them. On the other, Microsofts update was later documented to pose problems for certain PCs.IMO, the reset-reregister batch file is something of a silver bullet for WU problems. Thus, if you dont mind waiting the time it can take to work through its processes (under 2 minutes on my 8th-gen i7 Lenovo X12 hybrid tablet), its always worth a try.After I ran it on my first test PC, it cleared the error condition the troubleshooter found but couldnt fix, and successfully downloaded and installed a pending Cumulative Update (CU).If the silver bullet doesnt work, then what?On one of the two occasions when the batch file didnt fix WU, I had to take my affected PC to the shop, where they were able to detect and diagnose a failing drive (SSD) that I did not catch on my own. Once that component was replaced, the system returned to normal working order.On the other machine, I learned from the chatter around KB5053390 on Windows 11 Forum that others were having similar problems. After I used DISM to install that package manually, WU resumed working correctly. Thus, online research can also help prevent unnecessary flailing about when WU problems present.Before you take a PC that gets to this stage to the shop, Id recommend trying an in-place repair install. And if that fails, try a clean OS install next. Only then should a trip to the shop be needed. Hopefully, youll never get that far!Additional reading on WU issues and errorsThe Microsoft Learn collection called Windows deployment documentation covers the ins and outs of Windows deployment, including WU and updates. It includes a Troubleshoot section broken into two parts namely, Resolve Windows upgrade errors and Windows Update issues troubleshooting. Both dispense lots of useful advice and techniques, plus discussions of (and references to) Windows Update error codes. For those who want to learn and do more about WU and its workings, these are must-reads.This article was originally published in November 2022 and updated in April 2025.