Is there a run command to check for Windows Updates online?

I'm using the run command as below (1st pic), but I get a server timeout error, but if I go to the settings screen there is an option to "Check online for updates from Microsoft Update." (2nd pic). Is there a run command for this one since it works through settings? I use the run command a lot, and it's just easier for me. I tried just adding "-online", but it didn't work.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried that already. It only adds the regular update check that times out, and not the direct link that I'm after.

And to be clearer I did search for three days trying to find it, and all the suggestions are for the same update which links to the the big button to "Check for updates". I haven't even found one thread that is a shortcut for the online check.

What version are you on? I don't have the "Check online for updates from Microsoft Update." bit you highlighted just this:




You can see your version running winver - this is mine:





And ms-settings:windowsupdate-action (which takes me to the first screenshot above) and all the other stuff from here works fine for me (not that that is any help for your question I know).

lx07 said:

What version are you on? I don't have the "Check online for updates from Microsoft Update." bit you highlighted just this:




You can see your version running winver - this is mine:





And ms-settings:windowsupdate-action (which takes me to the first screenshot above) and all the other stuff from here works fine for me (not that that is any help for your question I know).

When I use the run command it takes me to the same screen you have, but after it checks for updates, I get an error code, and when I look it up it shows the server timed out. But if I use the online check, it goes through the same process, but I get updates, and they install normally. The last check was today, and since there were no "real" updates, all it found was Defender definitions to update.

Here's my version info:

I just used ms-settings:windowsupdate-action and it went off, checked for updates and started downloading automatically. (I'm currently on 1709 Build 16299.125.)

Brink said:

Hello Bobby, :)

The "Check online for updates from Windows Update" link is no longer in Windows 10, but you could check Windows 10 update history online if wanted.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4043454

Thanks for the link Brink. I'll read up on it. I wonder why I still have the link if it's no longer supported. Maybe in a future update (if I can ever update) it will disappear? Anyway thanks again. I'm on a domain, and we are allowed to check online, so I think it's depending on the System configuration it uses. Either the internal WSUS server (which times out), or the external Microsoft Update Server to look for available updates. That's why I was looking for a shortcut for the online version.

I checked on 16299.309 (10 Pro) and don't have it their either so no obvious difference in the next upgrade. Perhaps someone with Enterprise can check as I only get updates through WU.

I don't know how WSUS works - I imagined updates were pushed rather than demanded but I could be utterly wrong.

lx07 said:

I checked on 16299.309 (10 Pro) and don't have it their either so no obvious difference in the next upgrade. Perhaps someone with Enterprise can check as I only get updates through WU.

I don't know how WSUS works - I imagined updates were pushed rather than demanded but I could be utterly wrong.

You're correct on the WSUS. We get monthly updates pushed to us via a Software Center, or any zero day patches that may be needed in between, and that's what's linked to the big button update check, and why it errors out when used. Can't pull/check from that. We can only use the online check to manually update.