Forum Discussion
Win10 Windows Update freezes at Downloading updates and never progresses
Even with a stable internet connection, Windows Update may indefinitely display "Downloading updates" without showing any progress. The download percentage remains at 0% for hours.
Restarting the Windows Update service or clearing the SoftwareDistribution folder only provides a temporary fix; the issue will reoccur the next time you attempt to update.
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This constant stalling usually means the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) queue is stuck on a broken job, or your system's file signature cache is corrupted. When clearing the SoftwareDistribution folder doesn't stick, Windows Update is simply picking right back up where the broken loop left off.
You can fix this by completely flushing the transfer queue and forcing Windows to rebuild its security signatures using these steps:
1. Reset the BITS Queue
• Right-click the Start button and open Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin).
• Stop the update services by running these two commands:
net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
• Flush out the broken transfer jobs by running this command:
bitsadmin /reset /allusers
• Restart the services:
net start bits
net start wuauserv
• Open Windows Update and try checking for updates again.
2. Refresh the Cryptographic Cache (Catroot2)
If Windows can't verify the security signatures on the initial download files, it will sit at 0% indefinitely.
• In your open Admin command window, type these lines one by one, hitting Enter after each:
net stop cryptsvc
ren %systemroot%\System32\Catroot2 catroot2.old
net start cryptsvc
• Renaming that folder forces Windows to create a fresh, clean cache directory for update signatures, which usually unblocks the download freeze right away.
