Windows 11 updates will no longer restart PCs, but this doesn’t affect regular users

Incidents with unexpected Windows updates followed by the computer rebooting without warning may soon become a thing of the past. Microsoft has prepared a new type of update that will not require any action after installation.

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«Hotpatch updates are security updates for Windows 11 Enterprise and Windows 365 that can be downloaded and installed using your existing Windows Update tool, without requiring a reboot.

«Hot patch updates are limited in scope and are a full set of security fixes. No additional features are included. They are unique in that they start working immediately after installation, without requiring a device reboot, which helps provide targeted and fast protection,” Microsoft employee David Callaghan said in a corporate blog and added that the corresponding changes will be added to the Windows 11 Enterprise version 24H2.

New types of patches update code directly in the computer’s memory, they use less processor resources and reduce the time during which the machine is exposed to risks. Microsoft has been experimenting with this format for some time: they appeared in Windows Server 2022 Datacenter: Azure Edition back in February 2022; they are also present in Windows Server 2025. There is no information yet about their possible appearance in consumer Windows 11 Home and Pro.