Microsoft has improved its Windows Update delivery system, but it’s no surprise if Windows Update is stuck. It can happen for many reasons. In this post, I will share how you can fix when Windows Update cannot complete the installation.
How To Fix Windows Update When It Is Stuck (Windows 11/10)
There are two ways to fix the Windows update stuck issue
- Windows Update Troubleshooter
- Manual deletion of files
- Restarting Windows Modules Installer.
You will need admin privileges to perform manual methods as we plan to delete files and restart services.
1] Windows Update Troubleshooter
The inbuilt Windows Update troubleshooter performs these actions.
- It turns off the Windows update service.
- Changes the name of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.old to clear the cache of Windows update download
- Turns Windows update service back to start over.
Here is how you can run it manually if Windows cannot figure it out on its own.
In Windows 11
- Go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters
- Locate Windows Update listing
- Click on the Run button and let the process complete its job.
In Windows 10
- Open Windows Settings using Win + I
- Navigate to Update and Security >Troubleshoot and click on Windows Update
- It will give you the option—Run the troubleshooter
- Click on it, and let it complete.
- Once done, you can go back to Window update and check if the download started again.
2] Manually Delete SoftwareDistribution files
The troubleshooter will begin working to identify and fix the problem. Most of the time, it resolves the issue by eliminating the stuck update from the list. After that, you can start the Windows update again, which should cause any problems. The troubleshooter sometimes says that it couldn’t fix the problem in that situation. You can use the manual method to delete the cache.
- First of all, click on the Start button.
- Now click on the Power Button to get three options, Shut Down, Restart and Sleep.
- Hold the Shift key and click on Restart to reboot the system in Safe Mode
- Once the system gets restarted, Press the Windows key + X
- Select Command Prompt (Admin) from the list
- Type net stop wuauserv in the command prompt to stop the Windows update service.
- Leave the command prompt open and open file explorer from the start menu
- Click on This PC > Windows (C:) > Windows > SoftwareDistribution
- Press Control key + A to select all files and delete them
- Now go back to the Command Prompt screen and type net start wuauserv to restart the Windows update service.
When you see the message, Windows update service was restarted successfully, then close the command prompt and reboot the system into normal mode (restart it). Once the system gets rebooted, run windows update again by going to Settings > Update and security > Check for updates, and there shouldn’t be any problem.
3] Windows Modules Installer
It is a service in Windows 10 that manages to install, modify, and remove Windows updates and other optional Windows components. The user account TrustedInstalle is used by the Windows Modules Installer service to execute what it plans to do.
We recommend setting this to start automatically with Windows or at least a Delay Start. Once in the background, it will be able to manage Windows updates.
- Open Windows Services (type services.msc in the Run Prompt)
- Find the Windows Modules Installer service and double-click to open the configuration.
- Choose the Startup type from manual to Automatic
- Apply and restart the computer.
So, this is how you will solve the Windows update stuck problem. If you face any problems, let us know in the comments section below, and we will try to fix them.
