It can be confusing and frustrating when Windows 10 decides to get stuck on Checking For Updates message and yet nothing appears to be happening.
When a Windows computer is stuck on Checking For Updates message, it does not provide any indication as to what is happening behind the scene and there is no way to tell whether the computer is waiting for a download, preparing to install updates or simply stuck.
What to Do If Windows 10 is Stuck on Checking For Updates?
Although, Windows 10 updates have now become smoother and trouble free, it is still not uncommon to find users reporting instances of Windows 10 being stuck on checking for updates.
If you are dealing with this problem, you can find below some of the methods that are known to fix the issue of stuck updates on a Windows 10 computer.
1. Restart the Computer
Sometimes, the simple act of restarting the computer can terminate stuck processes, resolve conflicts and fix the problem of computer being stuck on checking for updates.
1. Restart the computer.
2. After the computer restarts, go to Settings > Update & Security > click on Windows Update in the left-pane and click on Check For Updates button.
2. Restart Windows Update Service
1. Right-click on the Start button and click on Run.
2. In the Run command Window, type services.msc and click on OK.
3. On the services screen, right-click on Windows Update and click on the Restart option.
After this, check to see if Windows updates can now be installed on your computer.
3. Run Windows Troubleshooter
Follow the steps below to fix Update problems on your computer using the built-in Troubleshooter as available on your computer.
1. Open Settings > click on Update & Security Icon.
2. On the next screen, select Troubleshoot in the left-pane. In the right-pane, select Windows Update and click on Run Troubleshooter.
3. Wait for Windows to find and fix problems related to Windows Update on your computer.
Most of the times the Troubleshooter is able to identify and fix Windows Update problems.
4. Clear Software Distribution Folder
Windows Updates can get stuck due to presence of corrupted update files in “SoftwareDistribution” Folder located at C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution .
This can be corrected by stopping Windows Update Service, deleting everthing in SoftwareDistribution Folder and restarting Windows Update Service.
1. Right-click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (Admin).
2. In the Command Prompt Window, type net stop wuauserv and press the Enter key.
Once the command is executed, it will stop Windows Update Service on your computer.
Note: Do not close the Command Prompt Window, leave it open and move to step 3 below.
3. Next, click on the File Explorer Icon in the taskbar to open File Explorer.
4. In the File Explorer window, navigate to This PC (Or Local Disk (C:)) > Windows Folder.
5. In the Windows Folder, open SoftwareDistribution Folder.
Note: Just to be on the safe side, copy “SoftwareDistribution” folder to your desktop as a backup
6. In the SoftwareDistribution Folder, select and Delete all Files located in SoftwareDistribution Folder.
Note: These are temporary files and Windows 10 will create them again from scratch.
7. After deleting Files in SoftwareDistribution folder, type net start wuauserv in the Command prompt window and press the Enter Key.
8. After this go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click on Check for Updates button.
Hopefully, this time you should be able to install Updates on your computer.