How to Undo a Windows Update

PCs & Laptops For Dummies

When an update doesn't go as planned, roll it back. You can do so within Windows, or, under dire circumstances, you can roll back an update from safe mode or when using the Windows Recovery Environment.

First, if you can get into Windows, follow these steps to roll back an update:

Press the Windows key + i to open Settings.
Choose Update and Security.
Click the Update History link.
Click the Uninstall Updates link. The Control Panel's Installed Updates windows appears. It lists all updates that Windows monitors, which includes Windows updates as well as updates to specific programs.
Choose the update you want to undo. The updates are categorized by program and then by date. Choose the top item in the Microsoft Windows category to remove the most recent Windows update.
Click the Uninstall button that appears on the toolbar. Not every update features the Uninstall button. Minor updates may not show the button.
Follow the directions provided on the screen. If prompted to restart Windows, do so.

The update should be removed successfully and your system restored. If not, or when the computer won't start, boot the system into the Windows Recovery Environment and enter safe mode.

You can also use System Restore to recover from a bad Windows update. If you can't access System Restore in Windows or in safe mode, use the Windows Recovery Environment.

About This Article

About the book author:

Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for 20 years. He has contributed articles to numerous high-tech magazines and written more than 90 books about personal computing technology, many of them accurate.
He combines his love of writing with his interest in technology to create books that are informative and entertaining, but not boring. Having sold more than 14 million titles translated into more than 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes does seem to work.
Perhaps Dan’s most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times number-one best seller (although, because it’s a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT best seller list). That book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.
Dan’s most recent titles include PCs For Dummies, 9th Edition; Buying a Computer For Dummies, 2005 Edition; Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies; Dan Gookin’s Naked Windows XP; and Dan Gookin’s Naked Office. He publishes a free weekly computer newsletter, “Weekly Wambooli Salad,” and also maintains the vast and helpful Web site www.wambooli.com.