Windows Update Stuck or Failing

Windows Update Stuck or Failing

Use this when: An update will not install, keeps failing, or has sat “working on updates” for a long time.

Steps

Do this

What should happen

1. If it says “working on updates — do not turn off”, wait. Give it a full hour, longer on a big update.

Updates genuinely sit near the end for a long time. Interrupting one is how a machine gets broken.

2. Plug in to power and stay on a proper network, not a phone hotspot.

Updates are large and some will not run on battery.

3. After it finishes or fails, go to Settings > Windows Update and click Retry / Install.

It picks up where it stopped.

4. Restart and try Windows Update once more.

Clears a stuck download or a pending reboot.

5. Note the KB number and any error code shown (for example 0x800...).

This tells us exactly which update and why it failed.

If that did not work

The same update fails twice with an error code. Log a MEDIUM ticket with the KB number and the error code. Do not keep retrying past twice.

It is stuck on the progress screen past an hour with no disk activity. Log a HIGH ticket — do not force it off unless we tell you to.

An update installed and now something is broken. Note what broke and when; we can roll the update back. See “Windows Will Not Start” if it will not boot.

Log a ticket

MEDIUM — Same day — An update fails twice. HIGH if the machine is stuck mid-update for over an hour or will not start afterwards.


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