r/techsupport • u/trulymiraculous • 14h ago

Open | Windows How to stop in-progress windows update?

My laptop (Dell XPS with Windows 11) died in the middle of a meeting. Plugged it in, now its trying and failing to update. Any way to stop the process? This has happened to me before and I would love to know if there's a fix.

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u/Immediate-Effect5158 14h ago

If Windows is currently trying to install an update, I wouldn’t force it off while it’s working, since interrupting an update can leave Windows in a worse state.

If it keeps failing and goes back into the same update loop, let it fail/rollback first. If you can reach the Windows Recovery screen, try Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Uninstall Updates and remove the latest quality update. You can also try Startup Repair or System Restore if available. Dell also has SupportAssist OS Recovery options for XPS systems.