On Windows 11 & 10, all pending updates, updates that are partially downloaded or downloaded but not yet installed, are stored in the “C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\” folder. Generally, most of us never need to worry about this folder. However, if your Windows Updates are stuck at 1%, 99%, etc., or corrupted and causing update loops, you can fix these issues by deleting the pending updates. For that, you just need to stop the Windows Update and BITS services and then delete the contents of the “Download” folder in the “SoftwareDistribution” directory.
In this quick and easy guide, I will show you how to do it in simple steps. Let’s get started.
Steps to Delete Pending Updates in Windows 11 & 10
- Open the Start menu by clicking the “Windows” icon.
- Search for “Command Prompt“.
- Click the “Run as administrator” option.
- Run the “
net stop wuauserv” command. - Run the “
net stop bits” command. - Run the “
del /f /s /q C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*.*” command. - With that, you’ve deleted all pending updates.
- Run the following commands one after another to start the services.
net start wuauservnet start bits - Close the Command Prompt window.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, we must open the Command Prompt with administrator rights. To do that, open the Start menu by clicking the “Windows” icon on the taskbar. Next, search for “Command Prompt” and select the “Run as administrator” option.
Once the Command Prompt window opens, we need to stop both the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (bits). For that, run the following commands one after another.
net stop wuauserv
and
net stop bits
After stopping the services, run the following delete command (del). It will forcefully (/f) and quietly (/q) delete all files and folders (/s) in the “Download” folder of the “SoftwareDistribution” directory.
del /f /s /q C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*.*
Note: Instead of running the command, you can also open the File Explorer, go to the “C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download” folder, and manually delete all the files and folders in it.
Once the pending updates are deleted, run the following commands to start the Windows Update Service and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (bits).
net start wuauserv
and
net start bits
Finally, close the Command Prompt window by clicking the “X” icon on the title bar. With that, you’ve not only cleared the pending updates but also restarted the update services so that Windows Update can run again to redownload and install available updates.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
