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Preparing Windows Is Stuck? 3 Easy Fixes

Learn to get past this error message on Windows devices

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

One of the more common issues you may experience while updating your Windows computer is when it gets stuck while it’s preparing Windows or seeing the Getting ready message. This typically happens when the computer is installing an update.

Normally, the updating process doesn’t take all that long; 20 to 30 minutes at most under normal conditions or shorter if the update size is small.

These normal conditions are contingent on your computer having the requirements like having enough storage, fan speed, and having a solid-state drive or SSD.

If you have a conventional hard drive on your computer, you can expect to wait much longer, up to an hour or more. But sometimes, even with the correct hardware, the updating may get stuck on the “Preparing to configure” screen.

Fortunately, fixing this issue is fairly easy and can be done on your own. This guide will show you multiple methods on how to get past thePreparing Windowsstuck screen on Windows 10 & Windows 11 devices.

What do I do if Windows is stuck on preparing Windows?

1. Restart the computer

2. Boot Windows 11 into Safe Mode

3. Perform Automatic Startup Repair

4. Uninstall Updates

Why is my computer stuck on preparing Windows?

There are a multitude of possible reasons for the update getting stuck on a screen. The file size may be large and your computer may struggle with it.

Windows 11 has a list of specific requirementsthat must be metto be used. You can check if your computer meets these requirements by downloading the PC Health Check app.

If your computer is indeed slow, it’s recommended that you wait for an extended period to give your machine the chance to download and install the update.

It’s also possible that during the setup processsome important files are missing or become corrupted. If a file is missing or corrupt, the computer won’t know what to do with it and cause the error.

A corrupt file may come from a power outage or overheating machine interrupting the update.

A glitch might be the cause too as they can be caused by anything. Microsoft is currently working on fixing all of the known issues plaguing Windows 11 and even has adedicated page on its website detailing what work is being done.

How can I stop future Windows 11 updates?

If you go back to the Settings menu on Windows 11, you can pause updates from being automatically installed by going down to Windows Update and going to the Pause updates tab.

You can pause updates from coming through for a week and decide when to resume the updates at any time you want.

Since Windows 11 is still a new operating system, the bugs and glitches will persist for some time. For example,build 22449 was pretty unstablewhen it came out a few months ago. Some people have even claimed that it disabled their Wi-Fi adapter.

Other people have reportedStart menu and taskbar issues on earlier buildsas well, but fortunately, there are fixes for these as well. Suffice it to say, sometimes it’s best to wait a little while before putting in that new update.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions on fixing the preparing Windows stuck window or more. Also, leave comments about guides that you’d like to see or information on other Windows 11 features.

Preparing Windows Is Stuck? 3 Easy Fixes#

What do I do if Windows is stuck on preparing Windows?#

1. Restart the computer#

2. Boot Windows 11 into Safe Mode#

3. Perform Automatic Startup Repair#

4. Uninstall Updates#

Why is my computer stuck on preparing Windows?#

How can I stop future Windows 11 updates?#