PC How to Uninstall a Bad Windows Update (and When You Should)
If a Windows update started causing problems, you can usually remove it in Settings, under Windows Update and Update history. After you remove it, pause updates for a short time so Windows does not install the same update again the same day.
If the problem began minutes or hours after an update installed and a restart, the update is a likely suspect. If it started days earlier, or on a PC that has not updated recently, something else may be to blame, so check the timing first.
Before the removal steps, this guide gives an honest list of updates you should not remove, with security updates first. Removing one of those can leave your PC open to attack, so read that list first, even if you are keen to fix the problem now.
Part of the Windows Update Problems: Stuck, Failed and Slow Updates Fixed Safely series, the pillar guide for this cluster.
First, check that the update is really to blame
Start with timing. An update is a likely cause if the problem began within a day or so after the update installed, for example later that day or after an overnight restart. If the problem was already there before the update, removing the update is unlikely to fix it.
Next, find the suspect update. Go to Settings, then Windows Update, then Update history, and look at the most recent updates. Write down the exact KB number of the latest one, which starts with KB, along with the date shown for it. Compare that date with the day the problem started.
Before you remove anything, restart the PC once and wait a short while after Windows starts again. Some update work finishes during a restart, and a problem that clears then was not a bad update. If the same problem is still there after that restart, keep the KB number handy.
If Windows showed a specific error code, don't uninstall on guesswork. Look up that code and follow its page first, because a code often points to a set fix that fits the problem better than removing an update.
When you should not uninstall an update
Do not uninstall a security update just because you can. They are not optional extras. These updates fix flaws that Microsoft has already made public, so other people know about the flaws too. If you remove the fix, your PC is open to attacks that use those flaws, and that risk lasts the whole time the update is off.
That applies to minor annoyances too. A new icon, a changed setting, a longer restart, or a large download is annoying, but it is not a reason to remove a security fix. The same goes for removing one just in case, when nothing has actually gone wrong. Put the setting back instead if you can.
You may also find that an update has no uninstall option at all. Some security updates and servicing updates, which help Windows install future updates, are built that way on purpose. That is a deliberate limit, not an error you need to fix. The missing button is not a fault with your PC, and forcing a removal can break later updates. Leave that update in place.
If you are in doubt, leave the update in place and wait. Microsoft may issue a revised update when a problem is widely reported, and a short pause can give it time to arrive. If work or school manages your PC, ask their IT help first. If the PC still works, waiting is usually safer than removing a fix you may need.
Before you start: three quick safety checks
- Save open files and close your programs, then plug in a laptop if you have one. Removing an update usually ends with a restart, so give the PC time to finish without running low on power.
- Write down the KB number and install date from Update history, on paper if that is easier. Keep the note until the PC has run normally for a day or two. It tells you exactly what was removed if you need to describe it later.
- Check that you can sign in again after the restart. Have your full password ready, even if you normally use a PIN or fingerprint, and make sure you can reach your BitLocker recovery key if the recovery screen appears. Do not start until both are within reach.
You do not need a cleaner, an updater, or any other download for this job. Windows has the removal tool built in, and extra software only adds risk at a point when your PC is already having trouble.
How to uninstall an update in Settings on Windows 11 and Windows 10
Use this method if you can sign in and open Settings normally. Work from the KB number you wrote down earlier, and check the name and date closely before you remove anything. A similar name is not enough. Remove only the update you identified as the likely cause.
Windows 11
- Select Start, then Settings.
- Select Windows Update.
- Select Update history.
- Scroll down and select Uninstall updates.
- Find the update with the KB number you wrote down. Check the date.
- Select Uninstall next to it, then select Uninstall again to confirm.
Windows 10
- Select Start, then Settings.
- Select Update & Security.
- Select View update history.
- Select Uninstall updates. This opens a Control Panel list.
- Find the update with the KB number you wrote down. Check the date.
- Select it once, then select Uninstall above the list and confirm.
If Windows asks if you want to allow the change, select Yes if the update name and KB number match your note. If it asks for an administrator password and you do not have it, stop and ask the person who owns or manages the PC.
Removal can take a few minutes, and the screen may sit still for part of it. Leave the PC on and do not force it off while Windows is working. If the progress seems stuck, give it more time before you try anything else, especially on an older or slower PC.
If Windows asks you to restart, select Restart now. After you sign back in, test the exact problem that led you here. Open the same program, printer, or file, and use the PC for a while before you judge the result. A fault that returns right away has not been fixed by the removal.
Most updates removed this way are quality updates, the monthly fixes listed by a KB number. A feature update is larger, changes the version of Windows, and may not appear on this list. If you installed one in the last 10 days, use the Go back option instead. It is in Settings, under System, then Recovery on Windows 11, and under Update & Security, Recovery on Windows 10.
If Windows will not start or the update will not uninstall
If Settings will not open, or Windows will not start far enough to use it, use the recovery screen instead. Select Troubleshoot, then Advanced options, then Uninstall Updates. This route removes the same update, just from outside Settings. If you are not on that screen yet, follow our separate guide to getting to the recovery options, then come back here.
On the next screen, select Uninstall latest quality update first. That is the monthly update identified by the KB number you noted earlier. Select Uninstall latest feature update only if the problem started right after a big version upgrade, such as moving to a new version of Windows 11.
Windows may ask for your sign-in password, and it may show the BitLocker recovery screen before it continues. Enter what you prepared in the safety checks, let the removal finish, and restart. Then test the same problem you had before, in the same way.
If removal fails, or no uninstall option is shown, stop there. Do not force it with a cleaner, updater, or other third-party tool. If a restore point from before the update exists, System Restore is the next gentler step. Our System Restore guide walks through using one without deleting your personal files.
Pause updates so the same update does not return at once
Do this now, straight after the restart that finished the uninstall. If you wait, Windows can check for updates again on its own and put the same update back, sometimes on the same day. A short pause stops that loop and gives you time to use the PC and confirm the original problem has gone.
Open Settings, then select Windows Update. Select Pause for 1 week, and check that the page now shows a resume date about a week away. That one week is usually enough for this purpose. Do not keep extending the pause unless the problem returns and you have no other workable option.
Set a phone or calendar reminder for the day the pause ends. When that day comes, do not rely on Windows to catch up on its own schedule. Open Settings, select Windows Update, and select Check for updates yourself, so a corrected version of the update or a later security update can install.
Staying paused has a cost. While updates are paused, new security fixes do not install, so the PC is less protected the longer the pause lasts. If the problem stays gone after updates resume, leave updates turned on. If it returns, note the KB number again and follow the steps for that specific update.
Conclusion
Uninstalling an update works best as a test with an end date. If the problem clears, you have useful proof and a short window to work normally. If it stays, you have proof too, and the cause is probably somewhere else, so reinstalling updates and looking at the symptom itself is the better next move.
Leave most updates alone, especially security ones, and treat removal as the exception for a clear, recent break. That balance keeps a temporary fault from turning into a longer risk, and it leaves your PC ready for the corrected update Microsoft releases next.