The launch of a big Windows 10 update like the October 2018 Update isn’t the end of a process — it’s really just the beginning. As soon as a major update is released, Microsoft quickly gets to work on improving it by fixing bugs, releasing security patches, and occasionally adding new features.

Here we’ve summarized what you need to know about every Windows 10 update being released to the public. First come updates to the currently shipping version of Windows 10 — version 1809, known as the October 2018 Update — with the most recent updates on top. (Note that the October 2018 Update is on a phased rollout, so you may not have received it yet.) Below that are updates to version 1803, known as the April 2018 Update; 1709, known as the Fall Creators Update; and finally updates to version 1703, known as the Creators Update. For each build, we’ve included the date of its initial release and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it.

Note: If you're looking for information about Insider Program previews for the next major release of Windows 10, code-named 19H1, see "Windows 10 Redstone: A guide to the builds." And if you’re still using an earlier version of Windows, see the Microsoft support site for details about updates to Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 version 1607 / Windows Server 2016.

Note: After some users who upgraded to version 1809 reported problems including the loss of all files in their Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos folders, Microsoft on Oct. 5 paused the rollout of this update. On Nov. 13, the company cautiously re-released the update, and as of Jan. 18, it has resumed automatic rollout of version 1809 via Windows Update.

Release date: February 12, 2019

This build fixes several minor issues with the latest version of Windows 10. Among them is one in which Windows Hello for Business Hybrid Key Trust deployment sign-on fails if Windows 2019 Server domain controllers (DC) are used for authentication. It also fixes a bug in Microsoft HoloLens that allows users to bypass the lock screen sign-in process in some workflows.

In addition, security updates are included for Microsoft Scripting Engine, Microsoft Edge, Windows Server, the Microsoft JET Database Engine, Internet Explorer, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Graphics, and Windows App Platform and Frameworks. The Security Update Guide’s Release Notes has details.

There is one known issue in the build, in which after installing the previous build, KB4480116, some users cannot load a webpage in Microsoft Edge using a local IP address. Browsing fails or the webpage becomes unresponsive.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4487044.)

Release date: January 22, 2019

This build fixes 20 minor issues with the latest version of Windows 10. Among them is one in which File Explorer stopped working when you clicked the Turn On button for the timeline feature when the "Allow upload of user activities" group policy was disabled. This build also fixed a problem that caused Remote Desktop Services to stop accepting connections after accepting several connections, and another one that caused Microsoft Edge to stop working with certain display drivers.

There are two known issues in the build. In one, applications that use a Microsoft Jet database with the Microsoft Access 97 file format may fail to open if the database has column names greater than 32 characters. The database will display the error “Unrecognized Database Format.” In the other issue, after installing the previous build (KB4480116), some users some users cannot load a webpage in Microsoft Edge using a local IP address. Browsing fails or the webpage becomes unresponsive.

(Get more info about KB4476976.)

Release date: January 8, 2019

This minor build has several security updates and addresses a single minor issue. It fixes the problem in which using esentutl /p to repair a corrupt Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) database results in a mostly empty database that is corrupted and can’t be mounted.

One security update addresses a vulnerability in session isolation that affects PowerShell remote endpoints. For security reasons, from this build and onward, PowerShell remote endpoints cannot be configured to work with non-administrator accounts.

In addition, security updates are included for Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows MSXML, Windows Kernel, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Wireless Networking, Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows Linux, Windows Virtualization, and the Microsoft Scripting Engine. The Security Update Guide’s Release Notes has details.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4480116.)

Release date: December 19, 2018

This minor build has only a single change: a security update to Internet Explorer.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4483235.)

Release date: December 11, 2018

This minor security update fixes an issue that may prevent the use of the Seek Bar in Windows Media Player when playing specific files. The issue does not affect normal playback.  The build also has security updates for Windows Authentication, Microsoft Scripting Engine, Internet Explorer, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Microsoft Graphics Component, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Kernel, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Scripting Engine. See the Security Update Guide for details.

There are no known issues in the update.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4471332.)

Release date: December 5, 2018

This non-feature update fixes 20 minor issues, including one that can cause mapped drives to fail to reconnect after starting and logging onto a Windows device, and another in which there are long delays when taking a photo with the Camera app in certain lighting conditions.

There are two known issues in this update, including one in which users may not be able to use the Seek Bar in Windows Media Player when playing specific files. This issue does not affect normal playback. Microsoft expects a fix to be available in mid-December.

(Get more info about KB4469342.)

Release date: November 13, 2018

This update addresses several security issues, including security updates for Microsoft Edge, Windows Scripting, Internet Explorer, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Graphics, Windows Media, Windows Kernel, Windows Server, and Windows Wireless Networking.

In addition, it provides protections against a subclass of speculative execution side-channel vulnerability known as Speculative Store Bypass (CVE-2018-3639) for AMD-based computers. These protections are not enabled by default in the update. To turn the protections on after installing the update, follow the instructions in KB4073119. For Windows Server guidance, follow the instructions in KB4072698. Additionally, IT staff should follow the mitigations that have already been released for Spectre Variant 2 (CVE-2017-5715) and Meltdown (CVE-2017-5754).

In addition to the security updates, the build fixes several issues, including one that prevented users from signing in to a Microsoft account (MSA) as a different user if signing in a second time, and another that caused the on-screen keyboard to appear when running automated tests or when you install a physical keyboard.

There are two known issues in this update, one in which some users cannot set Win32 program defaults for certain app and file type combinations using the Open with... command or Settings > Apps > Default apps, and another in which Microsoft Notepad and other Win32 programs cannot be set as default applications.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4467708.)

Release date: November 13, 2018

This minor, non-feature update fixes a variety of small issues, including one in which Internet Explorer performance became degraded when using roaming profiles or when the Microsoft Compatibility List wasn’t being used. Other issues fixed include one that caused a long delay in taking a photo using the Camera app in certain lighting conditions, and one that caused applications to lose IPv4 connectivity when IPv6 is unbound.

There are two known issues in this update: one in which some users cannot set Win32 program defaults for certain app and file type combinations using the Open with... command or Settings > Apps > Default apps, and another in which Microsoft Notepad and other Win32 programs cannot be set as default applications.

(Get more info about KB4464455.)

Release date: October 9, 2018

This very minor, non-feature update fixes an issue in which an incorrect timing calculation may prematurely delete user profiles on devices subject to the "Delete user profiles older than a specified number of day” group policy. It also has security updates for Windows Kernel, Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Scripting Engine, Internet Explorer, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Linux, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows MSXML, the Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows Peripherals, Microsoft Edge, Windows Media Player, and Internet Explorer. (Go to the Security Update Guide for more details about these updates.)

There are no known issues with the update.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4464330.)

Release date: October 2, 2018; paused October 5; re-released November 13, 2018

Version 1809, called the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, is the most recent major update to Windows 10. Here’s a quick summary of what’s new for users in it. (For more details, see our full review.)

What IT needs to know: There are few significant changes that affect IT in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, other than New Microsoft Edge Group Policies that let admins enable and disable full-screen mode, printing, the favorites bar, and browser history saves. IT can also allow or ban Edge extensions (not that there are many available) and configure the Home button and new tab page and startup options.

Release date: September 20, 2018

This non-feature update fixes several dozen issues, including one that prevents custom keyboard layouts from working correctly, another that prevents some Bluetooth devices from pairing with Windows, and another in which a daily, repetitive task starts unexpectedly when the task is first created or starts when the task is updated.

There are no known issues with the update.

(Get more info about KB4458469.)

Release date: September 17, 2018

This non-feature update fixes a single issue that occurs after installing any of the updates released between July 24, 2018 and September 11, 2018. In those updates, Windows no longer recognizes the Personal Information exchange (PFX) certificate used for authenticating to a Wi-Fi or VPN connection. So Intune takes a long time to deliver user profiles because it doesn’t recognize that the required certificate is on the device. This build fixes the problem.

There are no known issues with the update.

(Get more info about KB4464218.)

Release date: September 11, 2018

This non-feature update includes several security updates and fixes an issue that causes the Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA) service to have excessive CPU usage. It provides protection against a Spectre Variant 2 vulnerability (CVE-2017-5715) for ARM64 devices. And it also includes security updates to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft scripting engine, Microsoft Graphics Component, Windows Media, Windows Shell, Windows Hyper-V, Windows datacenter networking, Windows virtualization and kernel, Windows Linux, Windows kernel, Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows MSXML, and Windows Server. (See the Security Update Guide for details.)

There are no known issues with the update.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4457128.)

Release date: August 30, 2018

This non-feature update addresses a little more than a dozen problems, including one in which an issue in Microsoft Foundation Class applications may cause applications to flicker, and another in which Microsoft Edge or other UWP applications can't perform client authentication when the private key is stored on a TPM 2.0 device.

There is one known issue in the update: Microsoft Edge may fail when using the New Application Guard Window, but normal Microsoft Edge instances aren't affected.

(Get more info about KB4346783.)

Release date: August 14, 2018

This non-feature update addresses a handful of minor issues, including fixing a problem that caused high CPU usage and performance degradation on some systems with Family 15h and 16h AMD processors, and fixing another one that significantly reduced battery life after upgrading to Windows 10 version 1803, the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

It also has security fixes, including several for Windows Server, and protections against a new speculative execution side-channel vulnerability known as L1 Terminal Fault (L1TF) that affects Intel Core processors and Intel Xeon processors

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4343909.)

Release date: July 24, 2018

This non-feature update addresses a dozen minor issues, including problems updating time zone information, an issue that prevented OpenType fonts from printing in Win32 applications and an issue with Roaming User Profiles where the AppData\Local and AppData\Locallow folders are incorrectly synchronized at user logon and logoff, among others.

There is one known issue: After installation of any of the July 2018 .NET Framework Security Updates, a COM component will fail to load because of “access denied,” “class not registered,” or “internal failure occurred for unknown reasons” errors. For more details, see KB4345913.

(Get more info about KB4340917.)

Release date: July 16, 2018

This non-feature update addresses a small number of issues, including one in which the DHCP Failover server may cause enterprise clients to receive an invalid configuration when requesting a new IP address, resulting in a loss of connectivity. It also fixes another issue that may cause the restart of the SQL Server service to fail occasionally, listing the error “Tcp port is already in use.” There are no known issues with the update.

(Get more info about KB4345421.)

Release date: July 10, 2018

This security update addresses a small number of issues, including one that may cause the Mitigation Options Group Policy client-side extension to fail during GPO processing. It also evaluates the Windows ecosystem to help ensure application and device compatibility for all updates to Windows and enables debugging of WebView content in UWP apps using the Microsoft Edge DevTools Preview app that’s available in the Microsoft Store.

The update also includes security updates for Internet Explorer, Windows apps, Windows graphics, Windows data center networking, Windows wireless networking, Windows virtualization, Windows kernel, and Windows Server. All security updates fix vulnerabilities in the Microsoft .NET Framework.

The update has a known issue: After installing this update on a DHCP Failover Server, Enterprise clients may receive an invalid configuration when requesting a new IP address.  This may result in loss of connectivity as systems fail to renew their leases.

 What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4338819.)

Release date: June 26, 2018

This non-feature update fixes a wide variety of bugs, including a performance issue on Windows Mixed Reality that occurred on some laptops with hybrid graphics adapters, such as the Surface Book 2, and another in which the Video Settings HDR streaming calibration slider stopped working due to a conflict with the panel brightness intensity settings configured by some OEMs.

The ancient, security-challenged SMBv1 protocol also has a fix for a bug in which users got the "An invalid argument was supplied" error message when accessing files or running programs from a shared folder using the protocol. The release also fixes a bug in which media content previously generated by Media Center didn’t play after the Windows 10 April 2018 Update was installed. There were more than a dozen other minor bugs squashed as well.

(Get more info about KB4284848.)

Release date: June 12, 2018

This update addresses a variety of issues, including several security problems. It fixes a problem that stops the GameBar from launching and also adds support for the SameSite cookie web standard to Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. Among other changes, it also addresses an issue in which some systems started up to a black screen. That occurred because previous updates to Windows 10 version 1803 were incompatible with specific versions of PC tune-up utilities after installation.

The update also provides protections for an additional subclass of speculative execution side channel vulnerabilities known as Speculative Store Bypass  (CVE-2018-3639). The protections aren’t enabled by default. IT administrators who want to turn them on for the Windows client should follow the instructions in KB4073119. For Windows Server guidance, follow the instructions in KB4072698. This should be done in addition to the mitigations already released for Spectre Variant 2 (CVE-2017-5715) and Meltdown (CVE-2017-5754).

The release also includes security updates to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft scripting engine, Windows Desktop Bridge, Windows apps, Windows shell, Windows kernel, Windows Server, Windows storage and filesystems, Windows wireless networking, remote code execution, and Windows virtualization and kernel.

There is a known issue in this update, in which some users running Windows 10 version 1803 may receive an error "An invalid argument was supplied" when accessing files or running programs from a shared folder using the SMBv1 protocol. To work around the problem, enable SMBv2 or SMBv3 on both the SMB server and the SMB client, as described in KB2696547.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4284835.)

Release date: June 5, 2018

This extremely minor update fixes a single bug in which 2017 and 2018 versions of Intuit QuickBooks Desktop couldn’t run in multi-user mode on Windows 10 version 1803 devices.

(Get more info about KB4338548.)

Release date: May 23, 2018

This update fixes a variety of minor bugs, including one in which Internet Explorer might cause communication between web workers to fail in certain asynchronous scenarios with multiple visits to a web page, and another that caused Windows Hello enrollment to fail on hardware with dGPUs.

There are several known issues with the update, including one in which some users running Windows 10 version 1803 may receive an error "An invalid argument was supplied" when accessing files or running programs from a shared folder using the SMBv1 protocol.

(Get more info about KB4100403.)

Release date: May 8, 2018

This update fixes several minor bugs, closes security holes and introduces no new features. Among other fixes, it addresses one that causes some devices to stop responding or working when using applications such as Cortana or Chrome after installing the Windows 10 April 2018 Update. And security updates are included for Windows Server, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Microsoft scripting engine, Windows app platform and frameworks, Windows kernel, Microsoft Graphics Component, Windows storage and filesystems, HTML help and Windows Hyper-V.

The update has one known issue – when some devices with Intel SSD 600p Series or Intel SSD Pro 6000p Series hard disks attempt to upgrade to the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, they may repeatedly enter a UEFI screen after restart or stop working. Microsoft is working with Intel and hardware partners  to identify and block devices with Intel SSD 600p Series or Intel SSD Pro 6000p Series from installing the April 2018 Update. It also is working on a fix that will allow those devices to eventually install the update.

What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.

(Get more info about KB4103721.)

Release date: April 30, 2018

Version 1803, called the Windows 10 April 2018 Update, is the major update to Windows 10 that preceded the October 2018 Update. Here’s a quick summary of what’s new for users in it. (For more details, see our full review.)

What IT needs to know: IT staff should be aware of these features that are new in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update:

For  more details, see the Microsoft blog post “Making IT simpler with a modern workplace.”

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