How to Fix Windows Update not showing/missing button on Win 10/11

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

Keeping your system up to date is quite important, but many users reported the Check for updates button is missing on their Windows 10 PC. This can be a big problem since it can leave your PC vulnerable, but there’s a way to fix this issue. In this guide, you'll learn how to fix Windows Update not showing/missing button on Win 10/11.

2. How to Fix

1. Check your group policy 

1. Press Windows Key + R and enter gpedit.msc. Now press Enter or click OK.
   
   

1. Local Group Policy Editor will now open. In the left pane, go to the Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel.
   
   
2. In the right pane, double-click the Settings Page Visibility to open its properties.
   
   

1. Select Not Configured and click OK to save changes.
   
   

After doing that, you should be able to check for updates manually on Windows 10. Several users suggested setting the policy to Disabled in Step 3, so you might want to try that as well.

3. Modify your registry

1. Press Windows Key + R and type regedit in the Run dialog. Now press Enter or click OK.
   

1. In the left pane, navigate to the following location:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer.
2. In the right pane, look for SettingsPageVisibility and delete it. (Alternatively, you can remove all entries from the Value Data field and save changes.)
   

After doing that, you should be able to check for updates manually on Windows 10.

This solution will achieve the same results as the previous one, and it should be used only if no results have been reached so far.

4. Reset Windows Update components

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator. To do that, right-click the Start Button and choose Command Prompt (Admin). )You can also use PowerShell (Admin).)
2. When Command Prompt opens, run the following commands:
3. taskkill /f /fi "SERVICES eq wuauserv"
4. net stop cryptSvc
5. net stop bits
6. net stop msiserver
7. ren C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
8. rmdir C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDataStore
9. rmdir C:WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload

Expert Tip: Some PC issues are hard to tackle, especially when it comes to corrupted repositories or missing Windows files. If you are having troubles fixing an error, your system may be partially broken. We recommend installing Restoro, a tool that will scan your machine and identify what the fault is.
Click here to download and start repairing.

After doing that, check if the problem is still there. If the issue persists, you can also try running the following set of commands:

• Net Stop bits
• Net Stop wuauserv
• Net Stop appidsvc
• Net Stop cryptsvc
• Ren %systemroot%SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak
• Ren %systemroot%system32catroot2 catroot2.bak
• Net Start bits
• Net Start wuauserv
• Net Start appidsvc
• Net Start cryptsvc

If this seems too complicated or too tedious, you can always create a Windows Update reset script and run it to automatically reset all the necessary components.

5. Run Windows Update troubleshooter

If you’re having problems with the missing Check for updates button on Windows 10, the issue might be related to a temporary glitch on your system. To fix the problem, it’s advised to run a Windows Update troubleshooter.

Windows comes with various troubleshooters, and these troubleshooters are designed to automatically fix minor problems and glitches that you can encounter. To run a Windows Update troubleshooter, you just need to do the following:

1. Open the Settings app and navigate to the Update & Security section.
2. Choose Troubleshoot from the left pane. Select Windows Update from the list on the right and click the Run the troubleshooter button.
   

1. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the troubleshooter.

Once the troubleshooter is finished, check if the problem is still there. Keep in mind that the troubleshooter might not be the most effective solution, but it can work sometimes, so feel free to try it out.

6. Run Windows Update from Command Prompt

Sometimes you might not be able to check for updates, and if that’s the case, you should try this workaround. According to users, if you have a problem with missing the Check for updates button, perhaps you can open Windows Update from the Command Prompt. To do that, just follow these steps:

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
2. Run the following command: powershell.exe -command “(New-Object -ComObject Microsoft.Update.AutoUpdate).DetectNow()”

If everything is in order, Windows Update should now start. If nothing happens, it means that this solution doesn’t work, so you can move to the next one.

Read more about this topic

• Your device is missing important security and quality fixes
• Fix: Windows Update & Security not opening in Windows 10/11
• Windows Update is not working in Windows 10/11
• Fix: Windows 10/11 automatic update problems
• Settings and Updates not opening in Windows 10/11

7. Check your policies

1. Open Group Policy Editor. (We showed you how to do that in a previous step.)
2. Now navigate to Computer configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Updates. In the right pane, check the state of all policies. Make sure that all policies are set to Not configured. If a certain policy is enabled or disabled, change it to Not configured.
   

1. Now go to User configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Updates and make sure that all policies are set to Not configured.

After making these changes, check if the problem is still there.

8. Create a new user account

1. Open the Settings app and navigate to the Accounts section.
2. Select Family & other people from the left pane. Now go to Add someone else to this PC.
   

1. Choose I don’t have this person’s sign-in information > Add a user without a Microsoft account.
   

1. Now you just have to enter the desired username for the new account and click Next.

After creating a new user account, switch to it and check if the problem is still there. If the issue doesn’t appear on a new account, we advise you to move all your personal files to the new account and start using it instead of your old one.

9. Perform an in-place upgrade

1. Download and run the Media Creation Tool.
2. Once it opens, choose to Upgrade this PC now and click Next.
3. Now select Download and install updates (recommended) and click Next.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen until you reach Ready to install screen. Click on Change what to keep.
5. Be sure to select Keep personal files and apps option and click Next.
6. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the upgrade process.

An in-place upgrade will reinstall your system and update it to the latest version while keeping all your files and applications intact.

Once the process is finished, you’ll have the latest version of Windows installed and the problem with Windows Update should be resolved.