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User notifications
In this section, you learn what a user sees in the typical update experience.
Note
The It's almost time to restart and Your organization requires your device to restart notifications don't disappear until the user interacts with the notification. This behavior applies to any dialog notification that appears in the center of the screen.
Typical update experience
In the following example, the Windows quality update is published and devices in the Broad ring have a deferral period of two days, deadline of one day, and grace period of two days. Devices wait two days before downloading the latest quality update. For more information on restart notifications for compliance deadlines, see Enforce compliance deadlines with policies.
| Day | Description |
|---|---|
| Day 0 | The Windows quality update is published. |
| Day 2 | The deferral period expires. Once the deferral period passes, the device automatically attempts to download and install, but settings for what actions are permitted on the device or user's device usage might delay these actions. |
| Day 3 | Windows quality update deadline. The device must download and install the update if it hasn't already. The pending restart period begins when the update is installed. The user can schedule a restart at any time up until the end of the grace period. |
| Day 5 | The grace period expires. If the device hasn't already restarted (either through user scheduling or automatic restart outside of active hours), the device is forced to restart to complete the update. |
Tip
For optimal user experience, set a 0 or 1-day deadline and 1 or 2-day grace period for update deployments. This setting allows quick update deployment with more time for the restart to avoid disrupting the user's productivity.
Minimize user disruption due to updates
Windows Autopatch understands the importance of not disrupting end users but also updating the devices quickly. To achieve this goal, the device automatically downloads and installs updates at an optimal time determined by the device. By default, active hours are configured dynamically based on device usage patterns. Device restarts occur outside of active hours if permitted by IT admin and user settings until the deadline is reached, which reduces the chances of an unexpected, forced restart.
Windows Autopatch doesn't modify the existing Windows Update notifications. If you want to modify the end-user update notification experience, see Use CSPs and MDMs to configure Windows Update client policies.
