Delete downloaded updates on windows 10

Here is how to delete the downloaded Windows Update files that Windows 10 doesn't delete itself. Windows 10 checks for updates automatically unless you disable this feature manually.

The operating system comes with the Windows Update service, which automatically downloads and installs the updates from Microsoft.

There are certain reasons for having corrupted Windows Update files. It can be an improper shutdown, OS crash, power failure, or something gone wrong with your Registry. After that, Windows Update may fail to do its job properly. The OS may fail to check for updates, or fail to install them. Sometimes, the Windows Update page in Settings cannot be opened! To fix most of the Windows Update issues in Windows 10, usually it is enough to run the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter.

When you run into issues though with updates, you may spend hours or even days figuring out what is going wrong. In such case, you can try to delete downloaded Windows Update files to start over.

The SoftwareDistribution folder contains files related to updates obtained via Windows Update, it is present on all versions of Windows. It could have a couple of hundreds megabytes of size. But if this folder is much larger, this indicates that some updates are corrupted.

If an update is installed, you cannot remove it with a simple delete command. You have to instead roll back to a previous version of the operating system. After that, the only way to roll back is through a system restore point.

Open File Explorer and go to the following location. All files that Windows 10 needs to update are downloaded here. Select them all, and tap the delete key. You will need administrative rights to delete these files. To delete an installed update, select and right click the installed update you want to uninstall, then click Uninstall.

This is the second method to delete Windows update files and other cached data or temporary files. Just follow up the below guide.

The system drive is where your Windows 10 has been installed currently. Then select all from Download Program files to Thumbnail files under Files to delete.

When you have selected all of them, click Clean up system files. Now on the Disk Cleanup tab, select all options again, then click OK to delete all Windows 10 update files and temporary files. If you want to delete System Restore and Shadow Copies , select More Options tab and click Clean up to remove system restore and shadow copies.

Remember: This action will remove all system restore point, you will not be able to restore to preview point unless the system will create a new restore point. Just click Delete Files to make sure that all files will remove successfully. Now all Windows 10 update files and other cached files must be deleted. Close the System Properties window. To do the same task or need to more about deleting system cached files or remove Windows update files, I recommend you to read the below articles.

This is the manual task you can do to delete downloaded Windows update files. It is easy to delete all cached update files. This works on all supported versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Windows 8.

Download and install it then start scanning. Also, there are more third party apps will do this for your, but doing Windows task with built-in Windows app is better and free. It will let you discover your computer features and functions more.

An IT Pro, here is my online knowledge sharing platform. I would like to write and share my experience for computer enthusiasts and technology geeks. How to Upgrade to Windows 11 Securely? If I clean one of my disk using disk cleanup, will not it clean my important cached files?

While here, find the folder named Softwaredistribution and open it. Open the sub-folder Download and delete everything from it you might need administrator permission for the task. Now go to Search, type update, and open Windows Update Settings.