While the quality of Windows updates may have improved over the years, the process for enterprises is not entirely seamless. Administrators often have to take control and ensure that the new Windows patches, which usually come out on the second Tuesday of every month, are applied without issue.

System administrators already have plenty of tasks, managing hundreds (or thousands) of computers. Hence, Microsoft introduced a new cloud service, called “Windows Autopatch,” to ease the effort on admins.

What Is Windows Autopatch?

Windows Autopatch is a cloud service to automate updates for Windows, Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Teams. As of now, it is available for enterprises with Microsoft 365 E3/E5 licenses and not for businesses.

If you are curious, you can check the supported versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11 Enterprise and Professional editions on Microsoft Docs.

It aims to save the administrator’s time to apply patches available every month by automating the process. With the time saved, professionals managing IT systems can focus on other important tasks.

The Autopatch service enhances security, reliability (by checking for compatibility), and productivity through timely patches. In terms of security, the Windows Autopatch service should help take care of zero-day threats and vulnerabilities as quickly as possible.

Moreover, a cloud-powered service should help minimize on-premises investment and user disruptions.

To make sure that the automated process is reliable enough, Microsoft clarifies in its Windows Autopatch documentation that the updates do go through a test ring to ensure a successful update.

Is Windows Autopatch Useful for IT Professionals?

Some administrators worry that it takes away their control over the devices. However, as per Microsoft, an enterprise needs to explicitly enlist devices to use the Windows Autopatch service.

So, you may or may not choose to use the service. Technically, the automated cloud service reduces effort and saves time and cost. If you think these benefits will help you in the long term, they should be useful for you or your organization.

Note that the update process is not user-configurable. Once you opt for it, Microsoft controls how the update is handled. You can only specify the active hours to change the schedule.

If you want to sign up for Windows Autopatch, you can follow the official video below to get started:

Windows Autopatch Helps Make Things Easy

With the growing complexity of hardware and software combinations, an automated system can help eliminate the hurdles that come with regular patches.

Considering the service is powered by the cloud, any issue detected will be notified over the network, to prevent major disruptions to an enterprise and its customers. It should not be long when consumers are offered such types of services as optional choices.