We couldn’t connect to the update service in Windows 11/10

If you are trying to update your Windows 11/10 machine but receive a message We couldn’t connect to the update service, We’ll try again later, or you can check now, If it doesn’t work, make sure you’re connected to the internet here are a few things you could try to fix the issue. A similar message you could see is We couldn’t check for updates because you aren’t connected to the internet, Connect to the internet and try again.

Although this problem mainly occurs when you do not have a valid internet connection, many times, it may also happen due to no reason at all. If you click on the “Retry” button, you will end up getting the same error on your screen.

We couldn’t connect to the update service

To fix We couldn’t connect to the update service or We couldn’t check for updates because you aren’t connected to the internet errors, do the following:

1. Run Windows Update troubleshooter
2. Run Internet Connections troubleshooter
3. Restart Windows Update service
4. Change the DNS server
5. Reset Windows Update components
6. Reset catroot2 folder.

To learn more about these steps in detail, continue reading.

We couldn’t check for updates because you aren’t connected to the internet

1] Run Windows Update Troubleshooter

If you are using Windows 11, press Win+I to open Windows Settings and go to System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.

However, if you are using Windows 10, open Windows Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Microsoft has included on this page to fix various problems with your computer. You can run different Troubleshooters to fix different problems. Among them, you can find Windows Update Troubleshooter. Click on Run the troubleshooter button.

It will open a window, and you need to follow the on-screen instructions.

2] Run Internet Connections Troubleshooter

Make sure you have a valid internet connection. If you are not sure, try to open a webpage in any browser and see if the page loads. Next, open the same Troubleshooters Page in Windows Settings and run the Internet Connections Troubleshooter. It will try to fix all the problems related to your internet connection. If you think that you do not have any internet connection issue, but still Windows Update is showing error, you can try changing the internet connection as well.

3] Restart the Windows Update Service

Search for “Services” in the Taskbar search box. Open the Services Manager window and find out the Windows Update Service. Double-click on it to open its Properties box. You will see the status as either Running or Stopped.

If it is Stopped, you need to click on Start button.

If it is  Running, you need to click on Stop and the on the Start button to restart the service.

While here, make sure that the following Services are also running:

• Remote Procedure Call
• Background Intelligent Transfer Service.

4] Change the DNS server

Change the DNS server and see. To do that, follow these steps:

• Type ncpa.cpl in Search box and hit Enter. Right-click on your Network’s icon and select Properties.
• Select the Networking tab.
• Under This connection uses the following items, click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and then click Properties.
• Click Advanced and select the DNS tab.
• If there are any DNS server IP addresses listed there, write them down for future reference, and remove them from this window.
• Click tthe OK button.

For Google Public DNS, select Use the following DNS server addresses. If there are any IP addresses listed in the Preferred DNS server or Alternate DNS server, write them down for future reference.

Replace those addresses with the IP addresses of the Google DNS servers: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

Restart the connection you selected above.

5] Reset Windows Update components

At times, your computer might show this error due to an internet conflict. The Windows Update components are accountable for this error. Therefore, you may need to reset the Windows Update components to get rid of this problem. If nothing helps, maybe you need to reset the Windows Update components and see if that works for you.

6] Reset catroot2 folder

Clear the contents of the catroot2 folder and see. Open Command Prompt (Admin) and copy-paste the commands one at a time and press Enter after each time.

net stop wuauserv

net stop cryptSvc

net stop bits

ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old

ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 catroot2.old

net start wuauserv

net start cryptSvc

net start bits

exit

Now see!

Can’t connect to update server?

If you cannot connect to the Windows update server, you need to check the internet connection. Without a good internet connection, you cannot search for available updates and install them accordingly.

How do I fix a Windows Update error?

There are multiple ways to fix various Windows 11/10 update errors. However, the first thing you need to check is the Windows Update troubleshooter. You can find this troubleshooter in the Windows Settings > Troubleshoot section. Then, you can restart your computer and run the Internet Connections troubleshooter.

I hope something helps.

More here: Windows Update Fail To Install.