Keeping your Windows 11 operating system up-to-date is critical for optimal performance and security, but most users ignore this. That is why Windows 11 automatically downloads and installs security and quality Windows Updates in the background.
Windows Updates often bring bug fixes and performance improvements to Windows 11 operating system.
Although Microsoft does the due testing before pushing out updates via the Windows Update service, very rarely, an update might break your Windows 11 operating system.
If you feel that your Windows 11 installation is not working correctly after installing an update, you can try uninstalling it to check if that resolves the issue.
Following are the four easy ways to uninstall Windows Updates in Windows 11.
Method 1 of 4
Uninstall Windows Updates via Settings app in Windows 11
Step 1: Open the Windows 11 Settings app. In the left pane, click Windows Update.
Step 2: On the right side, in the More options section, click the Update history link to open the Windows Update history page.
Step 3: As you can see, the page displays a list of recently installed feature updates, quality updates, driver updates, definition updates, and other updates.
In the Related settings section, click on Uninstall updates. This will open the classic Installed updates window.
Step 4: Next, right-click on the update you want to uninstall and click the Uninstall option. Note that Windows 11 does not let you uninstall all types of updates. So, you will see updates only that can be uninstalled.
If you are asked to restart your PC, please do so to complete uninstalling the update.
Method 2 of 4
Uninstall Windows Updates via Control Panel in Windows 11
Step 1: Type appwiz.cpl in the search or Run command prompt and press the Enter key to open the Programs and Features window of the Control Panel.
Step 2: In the left pane of the Programs and Features window, click on the View installed updates link.
Step 3: As you can see in the picture below, the Installed updates window shows all recently installed Windows Updates.
Step 4: To uninstall an update, perform a right-click on the update and then click the Uninstall option.
Step 5: When you get the following confirmation dialog, click on the Yes button to go ahead and uninstall the update.
Note that some Windows Updates might ask for a system reboot to complete the uninstallation. If you get a prompt, save your work and click the Restart Now button.
Method 3 of 4
Uninstall Windows Updates via Windows Terminal or PowerShell
Step 1: Use the search to open Windows Terminal or PowerShell.
Step 2: At the Terminal or PowerShell, copy and paste the following command and then hit the Enter key to view a list of recently installed Windows Updates.
wmic qfe list brief /format:table
As you can see in the picture, the table shows the installed date, HotFixID, and type of the update. We will need the HotFixID of the update that you want to uninstall.
Step 3: To uninstall an update, execute the following command:
wusa /uninstall /kb:HotFixID
In the above command, replace HotFixID with the Windows Update’s HotFixID that you got in Step 2. For example, if I want to uninstall the KB5007414, then the command would be:
wusa /uninstall /kb:5007414
Step 4: If you get the confirmation dialog, click the Yes button. If a reboot is required, please restart your computer after saving your work.
Once an update is uninstalled, you may close the PowerShell or Windows Terminal window.
Method 4 of 4
Uninstall Windows Updates when PC is not booting
Did you know that you can uninstall Windows Updates even if your PC fails to boot?
This method is ideal when your Windows 11 PC fails to boot after installing a Windows Update. Note that this method only allows you to uninstall the latest quality or feature update.
Step 1: Turn on your PC and access the Advanced options screen. There are multiple ways to access the Advanced options. Refer to our how to open Advanced options in Windows 11/10 guide for directions.
Step 2: On the Advanced options screen, click on Uninstall Updates entry.
Step 3: Next, depending on your requirement, click either Uninstall latest quality update or Uninstall latest feature update.
Your PC will restart once.
Step 4: If you selected the Uninstall latest quality update in the last step, you get the following screen where you can click on the Uninstall quality update to begin uninstalling the most recent quality update.
And if you selected Uninstall latest feature update, you get a similar screen with Uninstall feature update button.
Step 5: Once an update is uninstalled, click the Done button to see the Choose an option screen.
Step 6: Here, click on the Continue option to boot into Windows 11 operating system. If you prefer to turn it off, select the Turn off your PC option.
