Full Fix: Missing check for updates button on Windows 10

Milan Stanojevic
by Milan Stanojevic
Deputy Editor
Loading Comments
Affiliate Disclosure
Windows 10 desktop

Keeping your system up to date is quite important, but many users reported missing Check for updates button 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.

If you have problems with missing Check for updates button, you might not be able to download the latest updates manually. Speaking of update issues, here are some common problems that users reported:

  • Windows 10 Check for updates button missing – This issue can occur for various reasons, and if you encounter it, be sure to create a new user account and check if that helps.
  • Windows 10 windows update missing from settings – Your group policy settings can sometimes affect Windows Update, so if you’re having this problem, check your policy settings and restore them to default.
  • Windows update missing Windows 10 – This is a variation of the previous issue, and in most cases it can be fixed by restarting the necessary Windows Update components.

Missing Check for updates button on Windows 10, how to fix it?

  1. Check your group policy
  2. Modify your registry
  3. Reset Windows Update components
  4. Run Windows Update troubleshooter
  5. Try running Windows Update from Command Prompt
  6. Check your policies
  7. Create a new user account
  8. Perform an in-place upgrade

Solution 1 – Check your group policy

If the Check for updates button is missing, perhaps the problem can be related to your group policy. PC administrator can sometimes enforce certain rules, and it can even hide certain segments of the Settings app.

To fix that, you need to make changes to the Group Policy on your own. This isn’t as hard as you might think, and you can do it by following these steps:

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter gpedit.msc. Now press Enter or click OK.
    group policy editor check for updates
  2. Local Group Policy Editor will now open. In the left pane, go to the Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel. In the right pane, double-click the Settings Page Visibility to open its properties.
    group policy missing check for updates
  3. Select Not Configured and click OK to save changes.
    check for updates missing policy editor

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

Solution 2 – Modify your registry

In case you don’t know, you can modify various settings and policies right from the Registry Editor, and if you’re having problems with missing Check for updates button, perhaps modifying the registry can help.

This solution will achieve the same results as the previous one, but if you can’t access or modify the group policy, perhaps you can fix the issue by modifying your registry. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Press Windows Key + R and type regedit in the Run dialog. Now press Enter or click OK.
    run check for updates missing
  2. In the left pane, navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. In the right pane, look for SettingsPageVisibility and delete it. Alternatively, you can remove all entries from the Value Data field and save changes.
    regedit key missing check for updates

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

Solution 3 – Reset Windows Update components

If you’re unable to download updates, the problem might be Windows Update components. Sometimes certain components might not work properly, and that can cause this and many other errors to appear. However, you can fix that simply by resetting Windows Update components by doing the following:

  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:
    • taskkill /f /fi “SERVICES eq wuauserv”
    • net stop cryptSvc
    • net stop bits
    • net stop msiserver
    • ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
    • rmdir C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore
    • rmdir C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

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%\system32\catroot2 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.

Solution 4 – Run Windows Update troubleshooter

If you’re having problems with 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.
    check for udpates troubleshooter
  3. 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.

Solution 5 – Try running 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 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 the next one.

Solution 6 – Check your policies

According to users, sometimes certain policies can cause issues with Windows Update. If Check for updates option is missing, perhaps the problem is related to Group Policy settings. To fix the issue, you need to make sure that you don’t have certain policies enabled.

You can easily check that by doing the following:

  1. Open Group Policy Editor. We showed you how to do that in Solution 1.
  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.
    policies missing check for updates
  3. 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.

Solution 7 – Create a new user account

If you’re unable to download updates, perhaps the issue is your user account. Sometimes your account can get corrupted causing various issues to appear. To fix this problem, it’s advised that you create a new user account and check if that helps. To do that, follow these steps:

  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.
    check for udpates troubleshooter
  3. Choose I don’t have this person’s sign-in information > Add a user without a Microsoft account.
    new username missing check for updates
  4. 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.

Solution 8 – Perform an in-place upgrade

If you’re still having this problem, perhaps you can fix it with an in-place upgrade. In-place upgrade will reinstall your system and update it to the latest version while keeping all your files and applications intact. To perform an in-place upgrade, do the following:

  1. Download and run Media Creation Tool.
  2. Once Media Creation Tool opens, choose 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.

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

If Check for updates button is missing on your PC, you might not be able to download the latest updates, but we hope that you solved the problem by using one of our solutions.

READ ALSO: