How to Fix Windows 11 Update Error 0x800f0988

Microsoft has begun to send out updates for Windows 11. Around 5% of all Windows Computers are already running Windows 11, according to estimates. But many Windows 11 users haven’t been able to update their computers because of the update failed error 0x800f0988, according to different reports. Windows can usually fix an update failure on its own, and only rarely does the user need to do something. This error code, however, is not like that.

When people try to download and install new cumulative updates, their computers may show the following error message: Updates Didn’t Work. We couldn’t get some updates to install, but we’ll try again later. They have to deal with the error code 0x800f0988. Because of this, Windows 11 can’t install the most recent patches. But, no matter how frustrating the problem is, there are several ways to fix it.

Ways to Fix Windows 11 Update Error 0x800f0988

Run Windows Update Troubleshooter

The Windows Update Troubleshooter is a pretty powerful tool that makes it easy to figure out what’s wrong with your updates. It fixes corrupted Windows files by doing the following simple things:

1. Right click on the Start button and select the Settings option.
2. Select the “Update and Security” category.
3. In the left pane, click on “Troubleshooting” and move to the right.
4. Here you will see a link to “Additional Troubleshooting Tools.” Now, click on it.
5. In the window that follows, scroll down and click on Windows Update to expand it.
6. When this box expands, press Options – Run Troubleshooter.
7. The system will force a troubleshooting window to launch. Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions to resolve this issue.

Microsoft has changed the troubleshooter settings in Windows 11; if you encounter this problem in Windows 11, do the following

1. Press Win + I keys and select “System“.
2. In the adjacent right pane, click Troubleshoot > Other Troubleshooters.
3. The Windows Update option will appear on the next screen, click the “Run” button.

Manually update Windows

Errors like this can happen often when something goes wrong with the network. So, go to the section for Windows updates and click the button that says “Check for updates.” You can get to this part by following the steps below –

1. Open the Microsoft Update Catalogue in your web browser.
2. Enter the Knowledge Base (KB) number in the search bar in the upper right corner and click Search.
3. From the list displayed, select the update you wish to install.
4. Once you have selected the update you wish to install, click the corresponding download button.
5. In the window that appears, right-click on the hyperlink and select the “Save Linked Content As” option.
6. Select a location to save the installer with the extension .msu and click Save.
7. Now press the Windows key and the E key simultaneously to open File Explorer and locate the downloaded file.
8. Double-click the .msu file.
9. When prompted by the installer, click Yes.
10. Restart your computer after saving any unsaved data.

Uninstall the Additional Languages to Fix Update Error 0x800f0988

Since English is the language that Windows 10 is set to by default, But if you choose another language as a prefix, it could cause problems and lead to Update Error 0x800f0988. Follow the steps below to make English the main language:

1. Use the “Windows + I” shortcut to enter the Preferences screen.
2. Select the “Time and Language” category from the available options.
3. Select “Language” from the left pane and move to the right panel.
4. On the right side, look for “Preferred Language” and make sure English (US) is selected.
5. If another language is set as the default, click on it and press the Remove button.
6. After making the change, restart your desktop computer or laptop and try to install any patches available for your system.

Clean up the WinSxS folder

When garbage data shows up in the WinSxS folder, it can make it impossible to install the monthly patches on the PC. From the user’s point of view, using DISM to clean up the directory helps solve the problem. Let’s look at how to –

1. Open “Windows Search” with the shortcut key “Win+S“.
2. Type “cmd” in the text area to search for “Command Prompt“.
3. Once found, right click and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu.
4. When the UAC prompt appears on the screen, click the “Yes” button to agree.
5. On the next screen, type the following command and press Enter:
   1. dism /online /cleanup-image /startcomponentcleanup
6. Once the WinSxS directory is cleared, reboot the system and try installing the pending files again.

Reset the Windows Update Components

The error code 0x800f0988 could also be caused by update components that are broken or not set up correctly. To fix this problem, you need to reset all of the parts and empty the Windows Cache folders. Here’s how to finish this job:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select “Task Manager“.
2. When the Task Manager window opens, click on the “File” menu and select the “Run New Task” option.
3. To create a new task, type cmd (also check Create this task with administrative privileges) and click the OK button.
4. On the next page, type the following commands and press Enter after typing each URL:
   1. net stop wuauserv
   2. net stop cryptSvc
   3. net stop bits
   4. net stop msiserver
5. The above commands will disable some services running in the background.
6. Next, rename the SoftwareDistribution and catroot2 folders with two different commands:
   1. ren C:WindowsSoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
   2. ren C:WindowsSystem32catroot2 Catroot2.old
7. The stopped service must then be restarted. Enter the following command and press Enter again after each URL is written.
   1. net start wuauserv
   2. net start cryptSvc
   3. net start bits
   4. net start msiserver
8. Once the above steps are completed, the Windows Update Components will be successfully reset. Now let’s download the pending updates on your Windows 10 PC.

Final Words

Microsoft keeps putting out updates for Windows like clockwork. But, according to reports, many Windows 11 users have been unable to update their computers because of a specific install error code: 0x800f0988. Most of the time, Windows can fix an update failure on its own, and only very rarely does it need help from a person. But that’s not what’s happening with this error code.  Error Code 0x800f0988 usually happens when you try to update Windows 11. We hope our article on “How to Fix Windows 11 Update Error 0x800f0988” will surely help you to do so. For further information regarding this error, you can also visit official Microsoft support website.