By default, Windows 11 automatically downloads and installs updates in the background, keeping your system up-to-date with the latest patches and features. However, sometimes an update might be buggy or fail to install correctly, causing it to break your system.

If your Windows 11 computer starts acting up, you can check your update history to troubleshoot problems and verify that updates have been installed correctly before you can try any other troubleshooting steps.

You can view your Windows Update history to see a list of all updates installed on your Windows 11 computer, including feature updates, quality updates, driver updates, definition updates, and other updates.

In this guide, we'll show you how to check the update history on Windows 11 using the Settings app, PowerShell, Command Prompt, and Registry Editor.

Viewing Windows 11 Update History from Settings

Windows Update History in Settings lets you track all the updates installed on your computer. You can check which updates were installed and which ones failed in one place. Here's how you can view the different types of update history through the Settings app:

  1. Open the Windows Settings app by pressing Windows+I.
  2. In the Settings app, move to the 'Windows Update' tab in the left pane and click on 'Update History' on the right pane.
  1. On the Update History page, you will see the updates are categorized as feature updates, quality updates, driver updates, definition updates, and other updates. 
  1. You can expand each type to see the installed updates and their dates.

There are three main types of updates in Windows 11 update history:

  • Security updates: These updates fix security vulnerabilities in Windows and help protect your computer from malware and other attacks.
  • Quality updates: These updates fix bugs and improve the performance and reliability of Windows.
  • Feature updates: These updates add new features to Windows and improve the overall user experience. These are significant annual updates that install a new version of the OS.

In addition to these three main types of updates, there are also other types of updates, such as:

  • Driver updates: These updates fix bugs and help improve the hardware in your system, like GPU, audio device, etc.
  • Definition updates: These updates regularly update the virus definitions for Windows Security and other security software.
  • Other updates: These updates can include updates for other Microsoft software, such as Paint and Edge.

If you're not sure what an update is for, click the 'Learn more' link to learn more about it on the Microsoft knowledge-base page.

If you have issues with an update, scroll down and select the 'Uninstall updates' option on the same page. Then, select and uninstall the problematic update.

Using Command Prompt to View Windows 11 Update History

Another easy way to view the Windows 11 update history is using the good old Command Prompt. Here's how:

  1. Open the Command Prompt by typing cmd in the Windows Search and select the 'Command Prompt' app from the results.
  2. Type the following command and press 'Enter': wmic qfe list
  1. You can also export the list of updates in HTML format using the below command:
wmic qfe list full /format:table > C:\WindowsUpdatesReport.html

To uninstall a Windows 11 update from Command Prompt, type wusa /uninstall /kb:<KB number> /quiet and press Enter to uninstall the update. Replace <KB number> with the knowledge base (KB) number of the update you want to uninstall. For example: wusa /uninstall /kb:<KB5031818> /quiet

Using PowerShell to View Windows 11 Update History

You can also use Windows PowerShell to check your update history on Windows 11. 

  1. Open Windows PowerShell, type the following command and press Enter: Install-Module PSWindowsUpdate . 
  2. If prompted with NuGet provider is required to continue, type Y to continue. If you see the Untrusted repository prompt, type A or Y, and press Enter.
  1. If the previous command doesn't work, type Set-ExecutionPolicy bypass, then type A and press Enter to continue.
  1. After that, type the following command to get the list of the last 20 installed updates on your PC: Get-WUHistory | Select-Object -First 20 .

See Feature Update History in Registry Editor

To view your feature update history in Registry Editor, follow these steps:

  1. Open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to and expand the following key in the left pane of Registry Editor or copy-paste the below path in the address bar:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup
  1. Under the Setup key, each Source OS (Updated on Month/Day/Year Hour:Minutes:Seconds) subkey represents a feature update that was installed. Select each key to view its information on the right pane.

Being able to view your Windows 11 update history is an important part of maintaining your system. Checking the history regularly allows you to verify that expected updates have installed correctly and identify any that may have caused issues.

The methods covered in this guide give you multiple options for viewing your update logs through the intuitive Settings app interface or more technical command line and registry tools. Whichever method you choose, taking a few minutes periodically to review your update history can help you troubleshoot problems and keep your Windows 11 PC running smoothly.