Reset Windows Update components on Windows 10 to fix download issues

Windows Update components are files and resources, work with the service engine in Windows 10/11 to check for and install the latest Cumulative Updates on your PC. This helps improve the security and reliability of Windows. However, Update components can be corrupted or misconfigured due to incomplete updates, malware, or even third-party software interference. Well, Reset Windows Update components can help resolve various issues, such as Windows updates failing to install, getting stuck during download, or causing system instability. This process clears out old or corrupted update files, restarts the update services and allows Windows to start fresh with the update process.

How to Reset Windows Update Components

If you’re experiencing problems Installing Windows Update, it’s stuck download hours or fails to install, follow these steps to reset the update components on your system and resolve the problem.

Windows Update Troubleshooter

First, we’ll use the built-in “Windows Update Troubleshooter” tool, Offered by Microsoft which helps you figure out the problem and rest the windows update component automatically.

You Can Run Windows update Troubleshooter From Windows Settings -> Go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Then select Windows update and Run The Troubleshooter As shown in the Below image and follow on-screen instructions.

Also, Run the Network adapter troubleshooter to make sure there is no network-related issues that are preventing from you downloading the Windows 10 updates.

The troubleshooter will run and attempt to identify if any problems exist that prevent your computer from downloading and installing Windows Updates. After complete, the process Restart Windows and again manually Check for Updates. Running the troubleshooter should hopefully clear up the problems causing Windows Update to get stuck.

To see if the problem has been resolved, restart your computer and check the Windows update component. It should work fine now.

Clear Windows Update cache

If running Windows Troubleshooter didn’t fix the problem, let’s manually clear the Windows Update cache to fix download issues on Windows 10. ( Basically, windows update files are stored on a folder called “software distribution” Any corruption or buggy update on this folder causes Windows update to fail to download and install.) We are going to clear the updated cache files stored inside the software distribution/ Update. So that next time windows download the fresh update files and successfully install Windows updates.

Before clearing the cache, you would need to stop the Windows update and its related services. To do that, search for “services” and open it as an administrator. Find the service “Windows Update,” right-click on it and then select the option “Stop.” Do the same with Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) and Superfetch service.

Now To clear the cache, do the following:

• Press “Win + R,” enter the below path, and press the Enter button.
• C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\
• This folder has all the files related to Windows updates.
• Open the “Download” folder, select all the files and delete all the files.

After that, you need to restart Windows Update and its related services. To do that, again open the Services and start the Windows Update Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) and Superfetch service. To start the service, right-click on it and select the option Start on the context menu.

That’s all now let’s check and install the latest updates from Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update, and check for updates.

Install Windows Update manually

This is another way to install windows updates without any error or Stuck downloading. And no need to run the Windows update troubleshooter or Clear update cache. You can resolve the problem manually by installing the latest Windows 10 updates.

• Visit the Windows 10 update history webpage where you can notice the logs of all the previous Windows updates that have been released.
• For the most recently released update, note down the KB number.
• Now use Windows Update Catalog Website to search for the update specified by the KB number you noted down. Download the update depending on if your machine is 32-bit = x86 or 64-bit=x64.
• Open the downloaded file in order to install the update.

That’s all after installing the updates simply restart the computer to apply the changes. Also If you are getting Windows updates stuck while the upgrade process simply uses the official media creation tool to upgrade to Windows 10 without any error or problem.

Did these solutions help to fix Windows update-related problems? Let us know on the comments below still, need help feel free to discuss in the comments below.