I was experiencing an error with Windows Update on Windows 10 that read, “We couldn’t connect to the update service. We’ll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn’t work, make sure you’re connected to the Internet.”

I was also having issues trying to download apps from the Microsoft Store.

This issue was also after I made sure the checkbox for “Disable Windows Update” was unchecked for Winaero Tweaker, meaning Windows Update should have been enabled.

I had noticed there was a policy setting for Windows update related to something about the Intranet and not letting Windows connect to Windows Update locations.

Solution

1. Assuming you are not using Windows Home (regardless of whether you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11), open Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and go to Computer Configuration > Windows Components > Windows Update and set Do not connect to any Windows Update Internet Locations to Disabled.
2. This step through Step 12 will be for performing a Clean Boot. If you already know how to do this, skip to Step 12. Open the System Configuration Window (Press Windows Logo Key + R, type msconfig, and press Enter) and click Services.
3. In the Services tab, click the “Disable all” button to disable most services. Click Apply.
4. Click the Startup tab and click the hyperlink to Open Task Manager.
5. Disable each Task Manager item that is enabled on Startup.
6. In the System Configuration window, click OK. Make sure you have saved any unsaved data and choose the option to Restart Now.
7. When you restart, go to the Windows Update settings and see if anything is different. In my experience, I got something weird – It was just “Something went wrong. Try to reopen Settings later.” with a toggle on the right of a megaphone icon.
8. For good measure, try restarting the computer again. Nothing should be different compared to the last boot.
9. Reopen services.msc and click the General tab.
10. Click Normal startup.
11. Open Task Manager’s Startup tab and reenable the things you want to be enabled.
12. Reboot your PC.

Now, when you open Windows Update, hopefully updating will work! If it does, congratulations! If not, I’m sorry I couldn’t solve your issue, but I hope I at least pointed you in the right direction.

Note: If this didn’t work, perhaps this is an issue with SSL. Hopefully this article can help you get started on researching the issue if you haven’t already come across it: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-update-we-couldnt-connect-to-the-update/9212ccdd-7b60-4f3e-9569-16d22bc10621?page=2

For example, try to run Get-WindowsUpdateLog in PowerShell, open the file that it creates, and search for the last instance of “Complete the request URL” – then go to the linked URL and see if you get a security warning in your browser, especially with ERR_CERTIFICATE_TRANSPARENCY_REQUIRED.

Thanks for reading!