In reviewing this post with Ed, he told me that the most common cause of those “Update failed” messages is that there are two updates waiting. If one is a servicing stack update, it has to install first, and the machine has to restart before it can install the next update.

Why do Windows 10 updates keep failing?

This issue happens if there are corrupted system files or software conflicts. To resolve your concern, we suggest that you follow the steps in Fix Windows Update errors article. The article includes running Windows Update Troubleshooter that automatically checks for any issues and fix it.

Why are my windows updates failing?

A common cause of errors is inadequate drive space. If you need help freeing up drive space, see Tips to free up drive space on your PC. The steps in this guided walk-through should help with all Windows Update errors and other issues—you don’t need to search for the specific error to solve it.