My Windows PC has been stuck on the “Undoing changes made to your computer” screen for a while after an update, and I’m not sure how long I should wait before trying anything else. Sometimes it looks frozen, but I don’t want to force shut down the system and risk causing more problems.
Has anyone dealt with this issue before? How long does the process usually take, and at what point should I consider troubleshooting steps like restarting in Safe Mode or removing the update?
The “Undoing changes made to your computer” screen on Windows usually takes 5–30 minutes, but in some cases it can take up to 1–2 hours depending on the update and system speed.
What you can do:
Wait at least 1 hour before forcing a shutdown
Keep the laptop/PC plugged into power
If it stays stuck for several hours with no progress, force restart the PC
If the issue keeps happening after reboot:
Boot into Windows Recovery
Run Startup Repair
Uninstall the latest update or boot into Safe Mode
This issue is commonly caused by failed Windows updates or corrupted system files.