How to Fix “An Update is Being Prepared For Your Device, But It’s Not Quite Ready Yet” Error?

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In This Guide

TRY IT NOW: How to Fix “An Update is Being Prepared For Your Device, But It’s Not Quite Ready Yet” Error In Windows?

How to Fix “An Update is Being Prepared For Your Device, But It’s Not Quite Ready Yet” Error In Windows? [2 Beginner-Friendly Ways]

Method 1: Run Disk Cleanup

Method 2: Use Windows Update Troubleshooter

How to Resolve the “Update Not Ready” Issue? [2 Advanced Ways]

Method 1: Reset Windows Update Components

Method 2: Repair Corrupted System Files

Conclusion

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Keeping your PC up to date is important to ensure maximum security, bug fixes, and performance improvements. However, when installing Windows Updates, many users have reported running into the “An update is being prepared for your device, but it’s not quite ready yet” error in Windows.

If you too are facing this error, you will see a “Retry” button with this error message that may prompt you to retry updating. However, you may see the same message again, even after hitting the Retry button.

Turns out, this repetitive message indicates that your Windows is unable to install the updates successfully due to an obstacle. So how to fix the “An update is being prepared for your device, but it’s not quite ready yet” error in Windows 10 and 11?

In this guide, we have listed 4 different ways to fix this error and make sure you can update Windows successfully without any obstacles. 

So read on.

TRY IT NOW: How to Fix “An Update is Being Prepared For Your Device, But It’s Not Quite Ready Yet” Error In Windows?

• Run Disk Cleanup: Running a Disk Cleanup gets rid of temporary files to create more space for updates.
• Use the Windows Update Troubleshooter: This built-in Troubleshooter identifies and fixes any issues related to Windows Updates.
• Fix Corrupted System Files: Use the DISM and SFC tools to repair the corrupted system files.

For more detailed steps to apply these fixes, continue reading.

How to Fix “An Update is Being Prepared For Your Device, But It’s Not Quite Ready Yet” Error In Windows?
[2 Beginner-Friendly Ways]

Before we try any complex methods, there are two simple ways to troubleshoot the “An update is being prepared for your device, but it’s not quite ready yet” error In Windows. 

Method 1: Run Disk Cleanup

Running a Disk Cleanup allows you to free up space on your hard drive. It gets rid of unnecessary and temporary files and other items to create more space for updates.

Run a Disk Cleanup to make sure that you aren’t facing this error due to insufficient space.

• Go to ‘Windows Search’ and type and ‘Enter’ “Disk Cleanup”.

• Select the drive on which your Windows is installed and then press “OK”.
• Select “Clean up system files”.

• Now click on your main drive once more and hit “OK”.
• Next, select the files occupying the largest space, such as “Windows Update”, “Temporary Files”, Temporary Internet Files”, etc. Make sure to select “Windows Update” even if you skip the other items.
• Hit “OK”.

Method 2: Use Windows Update Troubleshooter

Your Windows comes with a built-in Troubleshooter that you can use to identify and fix any issues related to Windows Updates. 

Run the Windows Update Troubleshooter on your PC by following these steps:

• Go to ‘Windows Search’ and type and ‘Enter’ “Troubleshooter”.
• Open “Additional troubleshooters”/”Other troubleshooters“.
• Now look for “Windows Update” and click on “Run the troubleshooter”/”Run”.

• Wait until the troubleshooter finishes working. Once done, apply the suggested fixes.
• Restart your PC.

How to Resolve the “Update Not Ready” Issue?
[2 Advanced Ways]

If none of these basic fixes seem to resolve the error, it’s time to try some advanced ways to force-fix this error.

Method 1: Reset Windows Update Components

Sometimes, resetting the Windows Update Components can resolve any update errors and allow you to restart the update process from scratch.

To do so:

• Go to ‘Windows Search’ and type and ‘Enter’ “cmd”.
• Now right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
• Select “Yes” when you see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt asking you to allow changes.
• Next, type and ‘Enter’ the following commands one by one:
  net stop bits
net stop wuauserv
net stop appidsvc
net stop cryptsvc
Del “%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\*.*”
rmdir %systemroot%\SoftwareDistribution /S /Q
rmdir %systemroot%\system32\catroot2 /S /Q
regsvr32.exe /s atl.dll
regsvr32.exe /s urlmon.dll
regsvr32.exe /s mshtml.dll
netsh winsock reset
netsh winsock reset proxy
net start bits
net start wuauserv
net start appidsvc
net start cryptsvc 

• Once done, restart your PC.

Method 2: Repair Corrupted System Files

Sometimes, corrupted system files may prevent your system from updating successfully. To fix that, you can use the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) and System File Checker (SFC) tools to repair the corrupted system files.

To do so:

• Go to ‘Windows Search’ and type and ‘Enter’ “cmd”.
• Now right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator”.
• Select “Yes” when you see a User Account Control (UAC) prompt asking you to allow changes.
• Now type and ‘Enter’ the following command: sfc /scannow

• Once the scan is finished, type and Enter the following commands one by one:
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

• Once done, restart your PC.

Conclusion

So that’s all, folks! These are some of the most tried and tested methods that can fix the “An update is being prepared for your device, but it’s not quite ready yet” error In Windows 10 and Windows 11. Make sure to try the beginner-friendly ways first as they are bound to work for a majority of the users. 

If they don’t work, keep trying with the two advanced methods we mentioned above or just download iobit Advanced SystemCare to fix it automatically. Good luck!