Microsoft is finally fixing the most annoying part of Windows Update

• Microsoft aims to reduce Windows 11 restarts with “hotpatching” technology for seamless updates.
• Hotpatching allows updates to be applied without rebooting, improving user experience.
• Windows 11 24H2 update in 2024 may include hotpatching, making restarts less frequent.

Everybody knows that it’s important to keep Windows updated, but very few people enjoy the process of actually updating your computer. Veteran Windows users will have bad memories of being constantly pestered by Windows to restart their device, or even their PCs restarting by themselves during an inopportune moment. Now, Microsoft is working to remove the number of times you’ll need to restart your Windows 11 PC to restart it, with a best-case scenario being one restart every three months.

Windows logo with light shining through and text reading Windows 11 Features in Preview

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As reported by Windows Latest, Microsoft wants to implement something called “hotpatching.” This is when a system downloads and applies an update without having to restart afterward. The company already has the technology in place for its Azure server virtual machines, as stated on Microsoft Learn:

Hotpatching is a way to install OS security updates on supported Windows Server Datacenter: Azure Edition virtual machines (VMs) that doesn’t require a reboot after installation. It works by patching the in-memory code of running processes without the need to restart the process.

Right now, this feature is restricted to virtual machines on Azure servers. However, sources for Windows Latest have stated that Microsoft plans to apply this same hotpatching feature to Windows 11. The sources also state that Microsoft hopes to get hotpatching onto people’s x86 and 64 computers as part of the Windows 11 24H2 update in mid-2024. People using Windows on Arm devices will receive hotpatching in 2025.

Unfortunately, hotpatching does not mean you never have to restart your Windows PC to apply updates. Hotpatching works by building upon the current baseline, and Microsoft will need to adjust this baseline with a “normal” update every so often. However, as stated in the Microsoft Learn documentation, these baseline patches may only come around once every three months, assuming that an emergency baseline patch isn’t released to protect users from zero-day threats.

Still, hotpatching will take a lot of obstacles out of the process of installing the latest Windows updates. If implemented properly, you may not even notice Windows applying the update. This does raise the question of whether Microsoft will allow people to manually check for and install updates, but given how Microsoft has auto-updated Windows 11 PCs to 23H2, it’s a sign that we might not get a say in the future.