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# Command Line Equivalent of wuauclt in Windows 10 / Windows Server 2016
- URL: https://omgdebugging.com/command-line-equivalent-of-wuauclt-in-windows-10-windows-server-2016/
- Published: 2017-10-09T13:30:57.000Z
- Updated: 2018-08-22T08:21:16.000Z
- Author: Pranav Jituri
- Tags: #Import 2026-09-24 19:01

Windows Update with Windows 10 & Windows Server 2016 was modified so that it could be integrated with the new UI. The old `Windows Update` is now gone from Control Panel (I am so sad...) and if you have to view updates, all you can do is

> Start -> Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update

With earlier versions of Windows, there used to be utility wuauclt but that does not work anymore since it does not update the UI which is accessed through `Settings.exe`.  
![](https://omgdebugging.com/content/images/2017/10/Old-Windows-Update-option-in-Control-Panel.PNG)

Now, if you try typing the following command in an Administrator command prompt on Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016, nothing will happen - `wuauclt /detectnow`

Now, in order to force check Windows Update, follow the below instructions -

1. Open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges.
2. Type in `usoclient StartScan`
3. You will see that Windows Update in Settings.exe will start refreshing as below -  
![](https://omgdebugging.com/content/images/2017/10/Force-Scan-of-Windows-Update.PNG)

Note: USOClient.exe is located in C:\\Windows\\System32

This will also force the client to report its status to the WSUS server (if configured).

On using Sysinternal's `Strings` on `UsoClient.exe`, I found that there are more switches which can be used -

- StartScan Used To Start Scan
- StartDownload Used to Start Download of Patches
- StartInstall Used to Install Downloaded Patches
- RefreshSettings Refresh Settings if any changes were made
- StartInteractiveScan May ask for user input and/or open dialogues to show progress or report errors
- RestartDevice Restart device to finish installation of updates
- ScanInstallWait Combined Scan Download Install
- ResumeUpdate Resume Update Installation On Boot

> **Note -** Attempting to run the Interactive mode if WU is configured to be solely non-Interactive, or on a non-Interactive server, should trigger an error (something along the lines of "AU Can not perform non-interactive scan if AU is interactive-only").

Recently, I was working with the Windows Update API on Server 2016 and initially this caused a lot of trouble because patches were installed but were not being reported properly in the UI. I found this executable by checking out the following -

> C:\\Windows\\SoftwareDistribution\\ReportingEvents.log

> Task Scheduler -> Microsoft -> Windows -> Update Orchestrator

Hope this helps!

`Edit - Thanks Richard (niemiro) for telling about InteractiveScan`