If you’re experiencing problems or errors on a computer after installing Windows updatesyou might want to uninstall a specific update or all recently installed updates to help resolve the problem. Let’s look at how to remove installed updates in Windows from the command line or PowerShell.
How to Uninstall a Specific Windows Update from the Command Prompt
To list the installed updates from the command lineuse the wmic command:
wmic qfe list brief /format:table
The command output includes update numbers (KBHotFixID) and installation dates. To uninstall a specific updatecopy its KB ID and run the command:
wusa /uninstall /kb:5048667
Confirm the update removal.
When an update is successfully removedan event from WUSA with Event ID 7 will appear in the Setup log in Event Viewer:
Windows update "Security Update for Microsoft Windows (KB5048667)" was successfully uninstalled. (Command line: ""C:\Windows\system32\wusa.exe" /uninstall /kb:5048667")
To prevent Windows from trying to reinstall an update that has been removedyou can pause updates for up to 35 days.
In previous versions of Windowsthe wusa command could be used to silently uninstall updates in the backgroundwithout promptingand with a delayed reboot. The following command has been used:
wusa.exe /uninstall /KB:5048161 /norestart /quiet
Howeverthe background update uninstall mode has been disabled since Windows 10 1507. The /quiet parameter is now ignored by the wusa.exe command. In this casean error with event ID 8 will appear in the Event Viewer log:
Windows update could not be uninstalled because of error 2147942487 "The parameter is incorrect." (Command line: ""C:\Windows\system32\wusa.exe" /uninstall /KB:5048161 /norestart /quiet")
Uninstall Recent Windows Updates Using PowerShell
You can use PowerShell for more flexibility when uninstalling updates. The following PowerShell command lists the installed Windows updates in order from the most recent to the oldest.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_QuickFixEngineering| select HotFixIDInstalledOn | sort InstalledOn -Descending
Or:
Get-HotFix | Select-Object HotFixIDInstalledOnDescription| sort InstalledOn -Desc
To remove all Windows updates that were installed on a specific dateuse the following commands
$Update_Date="04/10/2025"
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_QuickFixEngineering | ? InstalledOn -Match $Update_Date | %{start "wusa.exe" @("/uninstall""/kb:$($_.HotFixID.Substring(2))") -Wait}
The PSWindowsUpdate PowerShell module can also be used to remove installed updates. Install the module on your computer:
Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate
List the 10 most recently installed updates:
Get-WUHistory | Select-Object -First 10| select KB,OperationName,Date,Result,title|ft
To uninstall an updateenter the update KB number in the command (in this examplequiet mode is used with the confirmation prompt suppressed):
Remove-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KB5048667 -Confirm:$false -Verbose
-2145124318it means that such an update cannot be removed.
To prevent this update from being installed automaticallyyou must hide it in Windows Update:
Hide-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KB5048667
If you want to uninstall an update on a remote computeryou can use:
- PSExec.exe tool:
psexec \\192.168.132.15 -u locadm -s cmd.exe /c "dism /online /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_DotNetRollup_481~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.9290.1 /quiet /norestart" - or PowerShell Remoting:
Invoke-Command -ComputerName 192.168.132.15 -ScriptBlock { Remove-WindowsUpdate -UpdateID KB5048161 -Force -Confirm:$false }
Remove Update from a Windows Image with DISM (Remove-WindowsPackage)
An error may occur when removing some updates:
Windows Update Standalone Installer Servicing Stack 10.0.26100.2592 is required by your computer and cannot be uninstalled.
The point is that this is a Servicing Stack Update (SSU). Microsoft states that Servicing Stack Updates (SSUs) cannot be uninstalled once installedbecause they are essential system components that are required for the successful installation of the Latest Cumulative Updates (LCU).
Howeverthere is a workaround to uninstall the Latest Cumulative Update (LCU) even after the Servicing Stack Update (SSU) has been installed.
List the installed updates in the Windows image:
Get-WindowsPackage -Online | where ReleaseType -like "*Update*"|ft
To remove an update package from an imagecopy its name and run the command:
Remove-WindowsPackage -Online -NoRestart -PackageName Package_for_RollupFix~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~26100.2314.1.10
