How to delete downloaded Windows 10 updates

When a Windows 10 update is made, it does not require a new installation of the same. Updates are incremental files that are installed on the operating system current. This happens on all systems whether they are designed for desktop or mobile platforms. This procedure is generally carried out automatically as soon as a new update is available, but as we all know it is quite common on systems like Windows 10 to see an update fail.

The update will deposit a number of files (sometimes very large) on your hard drive. But before explaining the procedure for removing the aforementioned files, it is good to make some clarifications. This procedure works only for updates that were downloaded but not installed. If this was installed correctly, it would not be possible to remove it with a simple delete command, but it would be necessary to resort to a system restore operation.

Preliminary information

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Remove Windows 10 update

Open the File Explorer and go to the following path (in case you don't have Windows installed on disk C, just replace the letter with the correct one):

C: WindowsSoftwareDistributionDownload

All the files necessary for the Windows update are saved in this folder and to delete them you will need to select them all and click the DEL key on your keyboard (or right click -> Delete if you prefer). To carry out this procedure, you will need to have administrator rights within the account.

In case you encounter any problems with the deletion of the files it will be better to try again by starting the system in Safe Mode.

Residual files or update files?

Finally, a distinction must be made between the two different types of files:

• The residual files are the type of files that remain saved in the aforementioned folder (and for this reason they are described as "residues") after carrying out an update.
• The update files instead are all those files necessary for the update and have a consistent size.

But how do we recognize the type of file inside the folder? Well, just check the size of the files. Once selected it will be sufficient to click the right button and go to the properties to learn about the size of the same. If they take up a few handfuls of Mb, they will surely be residual files from previous updates, otherwise we will be faced with real update files.

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