In this post, I will show you how to view update history in Windows 11/10 using different methods. The update history provides detailed information about the updates installed on your device, including the installation date and version numbers.
If you’ve recently installed updates on your Windows 11 PC and want to check which updates were applied or failed to install, you can use the ‘Update History‘ feature under Windows Update. This option is available on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems.
Microsoft continuously releases updates to address problems and flaws in the operating system for Windows versions that are still in use. Occasionally, a faulty update can cause instability issues on Windows 11, and troubleshooting begins with finding the update and removing it. Hence, every user should know how to see the previously installed updates.
There are several ways to view the update history on Windows 11. This guide will explore each method, allowing you to choose the one that suits you best.
View Update History in Windows 11 using Settings
The simplest way to view Windows 11 update history is using the Settings app. Press Windows + I key to open the Settings app. In the Settings window, click on Windows Update in the left sidebar. In the Windows Update section, click on Update history.
The Update History shows the list of all the updates that were installed on Windows 11. The update’s KB number and the installation date are also visible.
Here, you’ll see a categorized list of installed updates, including:
- Feature Updates
- Quality Updates
- Definition Updates
- Other Updates
Tip: Next to each update, there is a Learn More option and when you click on the link, it opens the browser and shows information about this update. Each update comes with a unique KB number, and this link takes you to the Windows 11 update release documentation.
Check Updates History in Windows 11 using Command Prompt
You can also use Command Prompt to check your update history on Windows 11. This method gives more details about the installed updates when compared to using the Settings app.
Click the Start button and type cmd into the search bar. Select Command Prompt from the search result to launch it. Type ‘wmic qfe list‘ in the Command Prompt and press the Enter key. The cmd output shows all updates that are installed on the Windows 11 PC.
The cmd output also contains additional information such as the update description, hotfix ID, date when the updates were installed and who installed these updates.
When you want to check if there is a specific update that is installed on your Windows 11, you can run the below command. Replace the HotfixID with the KB number of the update.
wmic qfe list | find "hotfixID"The below command checks if the update KB5043937 is installed on the Windows 11 computer.
wmic qfe list | find "KB5043937"
View Update History using PowerShell on Windows 11
On Windows 11, you can view the list of previously installed updates using PowerShell. This method involves installing the PSWindowsUpdate module first and setting the execution policy to bypass to run the commands. Follow the below steps.
Step 1: Install the PSWindowsUpdate module
The PSWindowsUpdate 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: Configure the 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 Bypass.
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
Step 3: Run Get-WUHistory to find installed updates
Running the Get-WUHistory powershell command shows all the updates on your Windows 11 PC.
Get-WUHistoryIf you have been updating your Windows 11 PC for a long time, the update history will show all of them, and the list is definitely too long to view.
Run this PowerShell command to view the 10 most recent Windows updates installed on your PC.
Get-WUHistory | Select-Object -First 10
Run the below PS command to find the older updates installed on your Windows 11 PC.
Get-WUHistory | Select-Object -Last 10
Check Windows 11 update history using Get-Hotfix Command
You can view the Windows 11 update history using the Get-Hotfix command. This PowerShell cmdlet uses the WMI Win32_QuickFixEngineering class to retrieve the hotfixes installed on local or remote computers.
Open the PowerShell on your Windows 11 PC and run the command Get-Hotfix. The output shows the history of installed updates. You can also see the update category, hotfix ID, and the date of update installation in the output.
To get the latest hotfix on the local computer, run the below command.
(Get-HotFix | Sort-Object -Property InstalledOn)[-1]
