Windows Update: FAQ

Note: If you’re looking for Microsoft Office update info, see Install Office updates.

In Windows 10, you decide when and how to get the latest updates to keep your device running smoothly and securely. When you update, you’ll get the latest fixes and security improvements, helping your device run efficiently and stay protected. In most cases, restarting your device completes the update. Make sure your device is plugged in when you know updates will be installed.

If other questions come up when you update Windows 10, here are some other areas that might interest you:

When you only want info about updating Windows 10, you’ll find answers to many of your questions here:

When the Windows 10 May 2020 Update is ready for your device, it will be available to download and install from the Windows Update page in Settings. Choose a time that works best for you to download the update. You’ll then need to restart your device and complete the installation. After that, your device will be running Windows 10, version 2004.

To manually check for the latest recommended updates, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Windows Update .

To get help updating to the latest version of Windows 10, go to the Microsoft software download page and download the Update Assistant.

Some updates may not be available on all devices at the same time—we’re making sure updates are ready and compatible.

To stay up to date, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Windows Update , and then select Check for updates.

If a feature update is available for your device, it will appear separately on the Windows Update page. To install it, select Download and install now.

Here are a few things you can try if you’re having trouble installing updates:

Make sure that your device is connected to the internet. Downloading updates requires an internet connection.

If you’re connected the internet, try to install the updates manually. Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Windows Update , and then view available updates.
Check for updates

Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter. Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot . Under Get up and running, select Windows Update.

The time required to download updates primarily depends on internet connection speed, network settings, and update size. Make sure your device is plugged in and connected to the internet to download updates faster.

You can’t stop updates entirely—because they help keep your device safe and secure, updates will eventually need to be installed and downloaded, regardless of your update settings. Here’s how to temporarily pause updates from being downloaded and installed. Note that after the pause limit is reached, you’ll need to install the latest updates before you can pause updates again.

In the Windows 10 November 2019 Update (version 1909) or later, or in Windows version 1809 for Pro or Enterprise, select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update . Then choose one of the following options:

Select Pause updates for 7 days.

Select Advanced options. Then, in the Pause updates section, select the drop-down menu and specify a date for updates to resume.

To finish installing an update, your device will need to restart. Windows will try to restart your device when you’re not using it. If it can’t, you’ll be asked to schedule the restart for a more convenient time. Or, you can schedule anytime by following these steps:

Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Windows Update .

Select Schedule the restart and choose a time that’s convenient for you.

You can set active hours to make sure automatic restarts for updates only happen when you’re not using your device. Learn about active hours for Windows 10.

Try deleting files you don’t need, uninstalling apps you don’t use, or moving files to another drive like an external USB drive or OneDrive. For more tips on freeing up disk space, see Free up drive space in Windows 10.

We recommend keeping devices like laptops and tablets plugged in when you’re not using them. This way, if updates are installed outside active hours, your device will have enough power to complete the installation. Windows updates don’t consume more battery than other typical system processes.

An update history is available so you can see which updates were installed, and when. You can also use this list to remove specific updates, although we don’t recommend this unless it’s necessary.

Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Windows Update > View update history .

For more info about what’s included in updates for Windows 10, see Windows 10 update history.

We don’t recommend that you remove any installed updates. However, if you must remove an update, you can do so in update history.

Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View update history > Uninstall updates.

Select the update you want to remove, then select Uninstall.

Feature updates are typically released twice per year and include new functionality and capabilities as well as potential fixes and security updates. Quality updates are more frequent and mainly include small fixes and security updates. Windows is designed to deliver both kinds of updates to devices through Windows Update.

To double check that your device is up to date, open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and see your update status and available updates.

To find which version of Windows you’re running, see Which version of Windows operating system am I running?

Reserved storage is not automatically turned on by Windows in any update scenarios. It is only turned on for new devices with the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) or later preinstalled, or devices on which a clean install was performed.

Note: If you’re looking for Microsoft Office update info, see Install Office updates.

The best way to keep Windows 8.1 up to date is to turn on automatic updates. With automatic updates, you don’t have to search for updates online or worry about missing critical fixes or device drivers for your PC. Instead, Windows Update automatically installs important updates as they become available.

To turn on automatic updates:

Open Windows Update by swiping in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the lower-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer up), select Settings > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Windows Update. If you want to check for updates manually, select Check now.

Select Choose how updates get installed, and then, under Important updates, select Install updates automatically (recommended).

Under Recommended updates, select Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates.

Under Microsoft Update, select Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows, and then select Apply.

Click the questions below to see answers about how Windows Update keeps your device up to date.

Note: If your PC is connected to a network where updates are managed by Group Policy, you might not be able to change settings related to Windows Update. For more info, contact your organization’s technical support.

Open Windows Update by swiping in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the lower-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer up), select Settings > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Windows Update. To check for updates manually, select Check now.

An update history is available so you can see which updates were installed, and when. You can also use this list to remove specific updates, although we don’t recommend this unless it’s necessary.

To see your PC’s update history, open Windows Update by swiping in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the lower-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer up), select Settings > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Windows Update > View your update history.

We don’t recommend that you remove any installed updates. However, if you must remove an update, you can do so in update history.

Open Windows Update by swiping in from the right edge of the screen (or, if you’re using a mouse, pointing to the lower-right corner of the screen and moving the mouse pointer up), select Settings > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Windows Update > View your update history.

Select the update you want to remove, then select Uninstall.

Here are a few things to try if you’re having problems installing updates:

Make sure that your PC is connected to the internet. Some updates can’t be installed if you’re using a metered internet connection.

If you’re connected the internet and updates aren’t installed automatically, wait a few minutes and then try to install the updates manually.

See the Fix Windows Update errors guided walkthrough to try to fix the problem.

Support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020

We recommend you move to a Windows 10 PC to continue to receive security updates from Microsoft.

Click the questions below to see answers about how Windows Update keeps your device up to date.

Release history for Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU)

We recommend that you always update to the latest version of Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU).

The following table provides release history information for Microsoft AutoUpdate. The table is ordered by release date, with the most recent release date listed first. All update packages are 64-bit.

• Download links are only provided for the most recent release of Microsoft AutoUpdate
• Microsoft AutoUpdate provides updates to various Mac products from Microsoft. Therefore, you might receive a notification to update Microsoft AutoUpdate even if you’re not running Office for Mac.

To view release notes, see Release notes.

April 2021 release

Release Date: April 13, 2021

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.34

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• The subtler ‘Badging Notifications’ will now indicate update availability, instead of the traditional OS Notification prompts, for users in manual updates mode.

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March 2021 release

Release Date: March 17, 2021

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.33

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• «Checking..» button on the MAU GUI is now disabled when MAU is checking for updates.
• «An Update is already in progress» prompt now has additional information.
• MAU UI displays the correct update sizes while downloading updates.
• MAU is now installable on macOS devices with M1 without Rosetta.

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February 2021 release

Release Date: February 17, 2021

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.32

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• Documentation Update: Missing flag descriptions for -t, -m and update flags are now available in command line interface of MAU.
• Accessibility Updates: Voice Over announcements are now available for download/install progress bar on MAU UI and Update Channel labels on MAU’s user preferences UI.
• Functionality Update: Main Menu bar of MAU now has an Edit option to allow for keyboard shortcuts.
• Other Updates: MAU’s Copyright year has been updated to 2021.

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January 2021 release

Release Date: January 13, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.31

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• For devices that aren’t on automatic updates, Microsoft AutoUpdate will now inform about new updates via notification instead of opening MAU UI.

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December 2020 release

Release Date: December 15, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.30

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• Adds Universal app support for Macs with M1.

MAU Update Link:

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November 2020 release

Release Date: November 10, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.29

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• Updated channel names for Microsoft 365.
• Fixed an issue, which prevented certain OneDrive installs from getting updates.

MAU Update Link:

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October 2020 release

Release Date: October 13, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.28

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• MAU UI: Summary View now shows user attention is needed on errors
• Both MAU UI and Update Assistant now self-terminate after 72 hours of no action.
• MAU UI: Now comes with a Windows menu

MAU Update Link:

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September 2020 release

Release Date: September 16, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.27

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• The MAU Update Assistant will now start updates behind a locked screen even if the regular check cycle not reached.

MAU Update Link:

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August 2020 release

Release Date: August 11, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.26

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• The MAU icon in the dock will now display the number of available updates.
• MAU will now launch in minimized state when updates are detected.
• Added a new “IgnoreUIOpenAfterInstall” preference that can be used for preventing the MAU UI from launching after install.
• Solved a permissions issue that caused an “Incorrect installation” message to be displayed
• Extended the persistence of the MAU “Update deadline” notification message from 60 seconds to 1 hour.

MAU Update Link:

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July 2020 release

Release Date: July 14, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.25

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• Detect app termination and automatically remove displayed dialog related to «open app».
• Reverted the feature introduced in the April release that users with Automatic Updates off would see the Microsoft AutoUpdate UI only once per week.
• Fixed an issue where Update Assistant closed unexpectedly before install began, after downloading updates.
• Fixed an issue where Update Assistant didn’t close after a prolonged duration of pending user notifications.
• Fixed an issue where the MAU UI reopened (or didn’t reopen) after install. The UI should open after install if the update is started from the MAU UI itself, or if an update is explicitly started by the user (via Finder, Terminal, and so on.).

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June 2020 release

Release Date: June 18, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.24

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• Customer Messaging Campaign: Office for Mac 2016 will be out of support in October 2020.
• Security fix for MAU’s Helper Tool XPC connection.

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May 2020 release

Release Date: May 12, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.23

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• For devices using macOS 10.13 or above and Office 2016 versions, users will see notifications of Office 2016 reaching end of support.
• If the apps Word, Excel and PowerPoint don’t have a window open, and the device is in Microsoft AutoUpdate’s Automatic mode of updates, users won’t need to quit these apps to apply updates. Microsoft AutoUpdate will now automatically refresh it’s Update Dashboard with the latest releases on the CDN, without the user having to refresh it or launch a new AutoUpdate Session.

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April 2020 release

Release Date: April 21, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.22

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:

• Microsoft AutoUpdate UI won’t be displayed on devices that are updating their Office apps via Microsoft AutoUpdate in ‘Automatic’ mode and for devices taking updates in non-Automatic mode when there are no new updates available.

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Release Date: April 14, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.22

Feature Updates:

• Security Fix: Microsoft AutoUpdate will be preventing any insecure connections from older versions.
• Users with Automatic Updates OFF will see Microsoft AutoUpdate UI only once per week.
• macOS machines with SSD will experience faster updates and negligible app downtime because of updates.

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March 2020 release

Release Date: March 10, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.21

Feature Updates:

• State Restoration Enabled for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, running without any windows open, or running the Docstage state, in automatic updates mode of Microsoft AutoUpdate. Now updates will be even more silent for end users in Automatic Updates mode, as they don’t need to quit their apps that qualify for Update via State Restoration.

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February 2020 release

Release Date: February 11, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.20

Feature Updates:

• Microsoft AutoUpdate UI launches only if at least 1 app on the device is registered with MAU
• Bug fixes and Enhancements

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January 2020 release

Release Date: January 14, 2020

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.19

Feature Updates:

• Bug Fixes and enhancements

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December 2019 release

Release Date: December 10, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.18

Feature Updates:

• Channel Per App: Mac Admins can now subscribe to different channels or rings of validation per app.

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November 2019 release

Release Date: November 12, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.17

Feature Updates:

• What’s New in each major update can now be viewed on the Microsoft AutoUpdate dashboard.
• Minimum OS requirements for Office 2019 updates have changed to macOS 10.13 with the release of Catalina. Users will be notified to get upgrade to latest Office Updates.

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October 2019 release

Release Date: October 15, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.16

Feature Updates:

• Starting Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.16, the all new improved end-user experience is now available for all customers.

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September 2019 release

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.15

Feature Updates:

• MAU Update Deadline Notifications will now display time of deadline to end users in their local device’s time format.
• MAU AU Daemon is now called Microsoft Update Assistant.
• Fixed an issue where focus was stolen from the foreground app when running the ‘msupdate’ command.

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August 2019 release

Release Date: August 13, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.14

Feature Updates:

• Fixed various issues for improving voice over translations, update performance and UI.
• Added telemetry and fixes for troubleshooting.

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July 2019 release

Release Date: July 18, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.13

Feature Updates:

• Privacy Changes for MAU: A Required Data Collection Notice will be shown to end users as part of compliance.
• MAU Update Deadline: Mac Admins can now set a deadline within MAU to enforce updates across their Mac users. Learn more
• Various Bugs and performance fixes.

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June 2019 release

Release Date: June 27, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.12

Feature Updates:

• Fixed an issue with Apple OS beta causing failures in MAU updates for full updaters.

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Release Date: June 9, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.12

Feature Updates:

• Binary Delta Updates: Smaller updates are available for SSD devices, by doing that reducing the bandwidth consumption because of updates.
• Support for Accessory Apps: MAU now supports accessory apps such as Microsoft OneDrive.
• Install on Clone enhancements: Updating clones is now more robust.

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May 2019 release

Release Date: May 14, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.11

Feature Updates:

• Privacy Changes for MAU: A Required Data Collection Notice will be shown to end users as part of compliance.
• MAU Update Deadline: Mac Admins can now set a deadline within MAU to enforce updates across their Mac users. Learn more
• Various Bugs and performance fixes.

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April 2019 release

Release Date: April 16, 2019

Microsoft AutoUpdate 4.10

Feature Updates:

• Install On Clone Feature Enhancements: For SSD devices, rolling out updates on clone for apps in use, by doing that reducing the app downtime because of updates.
• Installation Optimizations: App downtime will be reduced as update process will use parallelized cloning.