How to view update history on Windows 11

• To check the update history on Windows 11, open Settings > Windows Update > Update History.
• Alternatively, you can use Command Prompt or PowerShell to complete the same task.

UPDATED 10/19/2023: On Windows 11, the “Update history” settings let you see a list of the most recent updates installed on your laptop or desktop computer, which comes in handy to check if a particular update applied successfully or failed. The Windows 11 update history page can also be helpful to know more details about fixes, improvements, and known issues for a recently installed quality update or find out the one causing issues to uninstall.

In this guide, I will learn the steps to view the update history of Windows 11 versions 22H2 and 21H2 using the Settings app, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.

• Check Windows 11 update history from Settings
• Check Windows 11 update history from Command Prompt
• Check Windows 11 update history from PowerShell

Check Windows 11 update history from Settings

To view the update history on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

2. Click on Windows Update.

3. Under the “More options” section, click the Update history setting.

   

4. Check the recent history of installed updates, including quality updates, drivers, definition updates (Microsoft Defender Antivirus), feature updates, and optional Windows 11 updates.

   

Once you complete the steps, you will know which updates are installed successfully and those that failed to apply. If you want to know more information about the specific update, click the “Learn more” option to open the Microsoft support website for that specific update to find out more details about the changes, improvements, and known issues (if any). You can also check the Windows 11 update history page to see all the updates available for all releases for this version.

When an update fails to install on your computer, an error code message will appear next to the update name, which you can use to search online to determine the reason and the steps to fix the problem.

You can also use these instructions to uninstall updates from Windows 11 whenever a new release is causing issues.

Check Windows 11 update history from Command Prompt

To check the history list of Windows 11 updates with commands: 

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Command Prompt and click the top result to open the app.

3. Type the following command to view the update history and press Enter:

   wmic qfe list

   If you want to find a specific update, you can use the KB number, typing the following command and pressing Enter:

   wmic qfe | find "5031455"

   

4. Check the Windows Update history of your device.

After you complete the steps, you will get a list with links to the Microsoft support website with more details about what’s new with the update. You’ll also see when the update was installed, the description, the “hotfixid” (KB number), and more.

Additionally, if you want to uninstall a specific Windows 11 update from version 22H2 or 21H2 using Command Prompt, you can use its KB number and run this command: wusa /uninstall /kb:5031455 /quiet. Remember to change “5031455” with the KB number for the update you want to uninstall.

Check Windows 11 update history from PowerShell

To see the history list of Windows 11 updates installed on the computer with PowerShell, use these steps: 

1. Open Start.

2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

3. Type the following command to install the PowerShell module to update Windows 11 and press Enter:

   Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate

   Quick tip: If you get an error trying to run the command, it might be because of the default restricted settings available with PowerShell. If this is the case, you may need to run the Set-ExecutionPolicy bypass command, follow the steps in this guide, and then run the Set-ExecutionPolicy undefined command to restore the default security script setting.

4. Type “A” and press Enter to complete the installation.

5. Type the following command to view a list of the 20 most recent updates and press Enter:

   Get-WUHistory | Select-Object -First 20

   

Once you complete the steps, the device may need to restart to complete the process. You can always change 20 for the number of updates you want to see in the list in the command.

The PSWindowsUpdate module also allows you to install updates and uninstall patches causing problems after a Patch Tuesday rollout.

Update October 19, 2023: This guide has been revised for accuracy and added additional information to reflect system changes.