How to Show or Hide updates in Windows 11

In this guide, you’ll learn how to show or hide updates in Windows 11. We will explore how to use the wushowhide.diagcab tool (KB3073930) and PSWindowsUpdate PowerShell module to hide updates or show the hidden updates on Windows 10/11 PC.

The wushowhide.diagcab is a Microsoft troubleshooting tool that lets you show or hide updates on Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers. You can also use the “Show or hide updates” troubleshooter tool to stop a specific update from installing on your Windows PC. That’s interesting!!

If there are some updates that you do not wish to install on your device, you have two options: use the Show or hide updates diagnostic tool or use the PSWindowUpdate module to accomplish this task using PowerShell. The PowerShell method requires importing the PSWindowsUpdate module and configuring the execution policy to run scripts. Whereas the wushowhide.diagcab is much easier and offers a wizard to work with updates. Both the methods will be covered in this guide.

Origin of WuShowHide tool

You may be wondering, Where did this wushowhide diag tool come from? In 2015, Microsoft released the KB3073930 update, which allowed users to manually block or hide Windows or driver updates. Not everyone was aware of this troubleshooter app but it became popular soon when many Windows users were looking to prevent installing driver updates or cumulative updates. Since then, a number of troubleshooting articles have recommended and made use of this tool.

Also See: Explore different ways to uninstall Windows 11 Update Patch

How does the Show or Hide Updates tool work?

The secret of how the Wushowhide troubleshooter package works is still a mystery. Furthermore, there is no documentation or information anywhere online on how this tool works. The only thing to remember is that you must use an administrator account to run this tool on a Windows device.

The Windows update show or hide updates tool basically does two functions:

1. Show hidden updates: Using this option, you can select the updates that were previously hidden and now you want Windows Update to automatically install them.
2. Hides updates: Select the updates to hide and your Windows 10/11 PC will not install hidden updates anymore.

Download the wushowhide.diagcab tool

Download the latest version of the wushowhide.diagcab troubleshooter app and save this file to your computer. The WU show or hide updates tool weighs only 48 KB in size.

Despite being released in 2015, we do not believe the Wushowhide Diacab tool has received any updates. We tested the Show or Hide updates tool on the most recent Windows 11 versions, including insider preview builds, and it performed flawlessly. The tool should also work on Windows 10 devices.

Hide updates in Windows 11

Let’s see how you can hide the specific updates using the Wushowhide tool. Run the wushowhide.diagcab file to launch the Show or hide updates troubleshooter tool. Select the Advanced option to ensure the option to apply repairs automatically is selected. Click Next.

Click the Hide Updates option as demonstrated in the screenshot below.

In this step, you must select the Windows 11 updates that you want to hide. In the example below, we have chosen the Windows 11 Insider Preview update, which will be hidden. Click Next.

The Show or hide updates troubleshooter tool now hides the selected updates on Windows 11. On the final screen, you will see that the updates you selected were successfully hidden.

Remember that if the update is already installed on Windows 11, you cannot hide it using wushowhide tool. You must first uninstall the update from Windows 11 and then block it to prevent the installation.

Show Hidden Updates in Windows 11

If you have previously hidden some updates on Windows 11, you can use the Show or hide updates troubleshooter tool to unhide those updates. Let’s see how you can do that. Run the wushowhide.diagcab file to launch the troubleshooter tool. Click the “Show hidden updates” option.

From the list of updates, select the ones that want Windows to install automatically. In the example below, we have enabled the previously hidden Windows 11 Insider Preview update. Click Next.

Close the Show or hide updates troubleshooter tool.

The hidden updates are now available on Windows 11 for installation. If you don’t see the updates, go to Start > Settings > Windows Update and select Check for updates.

In the below screenshot, we see that the Windows 11 Insider Preview update that was previously hidden is now available for installation. Thanks to the Show or hide updates tool, it is now easier to prevent or remove a specific update from trying to install on Windows 11.

How to Show or Hide updates using PowerShell

On Windows 11, you can use PowerShell to show or hide updates using the PSWindowUpdate module. This approach is useful when you don’t have access to the wushowhide.diagcab or you’re not allowed to use that tool in your organization. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Install the PSWindowUpdate module

The PSWindowUpdate module contains cmdlets to manage Windows Update Client. To run the cmdlets, you require the minimum PowerShell version of 5.1.0.0. In case your Windows 11 PC is not installed with this module, you can run the below command to install it.

Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate

Step 2: Set the PS Execution Policy

PowerShell’s execution policy prevents your device from the execution of malicious scripts. To effectively execute the PS scripts, the powershell execution policy must be configured. To determine the current PS execution policy on your Windows 11 device, run the command Get-ExecutionPolicy.

After installing PSWindowsUpdate module, you must configure the execution policy before you import and use the PSWindowsUpdate. Run the below powershell command to set the execution policy to RemoteSigned with scope as CurrentUser.

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Step 3: Check for Windows Updates with PowerShell

After you have configured the PS execution policy for running the scripts, let’s import the PSWindowsUpdate module by running the below command in the PowerShell window.

Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate

Next, run the Get-WindowsUpdate cmdlet to check for Windows 11 updates with PowerShell. The output shows you the list of updates that are available for your system.

Note: If you want to hide a specific update using PowerShell, you need to make sure it’s not installed on the PC. If that is the case, first uninstall the update and then run the above command for the update to show up again.

Step 4: Hide the updates using PowerShell

Once you have identified the updates you want to hide with the Get-WindowsUpdate cmdlet, take note of their KB numbers, which are unique IDs assigned to each update.

The below syntax is for hiding the update using PowerShell. Before running this command, you must replace the KBNUMBER with the update number you want to hide.

Hide-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KBNumber

For example, the below PS command hides the KB5042098 update on your system.

Hide-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KB5042098

Note: When you run the above command, it immediately hides the update KB5042098 on the Windows device and the status in the output is displayed as —H–. The status “H” indicates that the selected update is permanently hidden for installation.

Step 5: Show hidden updates with PowerShell

If you previously hidden specific updates to prevent them from installing, you can display them using PowerShell.

The below syntax is for showing the hidden update using PowerShell. Before running this command, you must replace the KBNUMBER with the update number you want to show.

Show-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KBNumber

For example, the below PS command shows the hidden KB5042098 update on your system.

Show-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KB5042098

Conclusion

We hope that this tutorial has helped you to understand the various options for displaying or hiding Windows updates on your device. In situations when you want to block a specific update from installing on your Windows device, this tutorial is what you require. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments, and feel free to share your experiences using these tools.