PcFixin'

How to Update Chrome and Windows and Verify Security Fixes

By PcFixin' · July 19, 2026 · Windows · Windows Update, Google Chrome, Security Updates

Update your browser and PC, complete any required restart, and confirm that the newest available security fixes are actually installed.

Why checking matters

Chrome and Windows usually update themselves. That is helpful, but an update can sit unfinished until you close Chrome or restart the computer. During that wait, the new protection may not be active.

The steps below do more than press an update button. You will finish any waiting installations and then check the status screens for proof. Nothing here deletes your files.

Start by saving any open documents. A restart may be needed near the end.

Update Google Chrome

These steps assume you use Google Chrome on Windows. Chrome checks for an available update when you open its About page. If it finds one, it normally downloads and installs it automatically.

The three-dot menu mentioned below is the button with three vertical dots near Chrome’s upper-right corner.

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Select the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner.
3. Point to Help.
4. Select About Google Chrome.
5. Wait while Chrome checks for an update.
6. Select Relaunch if that button appears.
7. Return to the About Google Chrome page.
8. Confirm that the page says Chrome is up to date.

Update Windows 11

Use this section if your Settings window has a Windows Update category in its left-hand list. If you have Windows 10, skip to the next section.

Microsoft says regular security updates arrive whether the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” switch is on or off. That switch mainly controls how quickly you receive additional features and non-security improvements.

1. Select the Start button on the taskbar.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Windows Update.
4. Select Check for updates.
5. Select Download and install if Windows offers that button for a security or quality update.
6. Select Restart now if Windows says a restart is required.
7. Open Settings after the computer restarts.
8. Select Windows Update again.
9. Select Check for updates one more time.

Update Windows 10

Use these steps if Settings contains a category named Update & Security. Microsoft notes that automatic updating is normally enabled by default in Windows 10, but a manual check can find updates waiting for your PC.

1. Select the Start button on the taskbar.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Update & Security.
4. Select Windows Update.
5. Select Check for updates.
6. Select Download and install if Windows offers that button for an important update.
7. Select Restart now if Windows says a restart is required.
8. Return to Windows Update after the restart.
9. Select Check for updates again.

Verify that the Windows fixes really installed

“You’re up to date” is reassuring, but check the installation record too. Windows calls this Update history.

A KB number is Microsoft’s identifying number for an update. A recent security or quality update should show that it installed successfully. Do not worry if driver updates or optional previews have older dates; those are separate from regular security fixes.

1. Open the Windows Update page in Settings.
2. Select Update history in Windows 11 or View update history in Windows 10.
3. Expand Quality Updates if that category is collapsed.
4. Confirm that the newest listed quality update says it installed successfully.
5. Return to the main Windows Update page.
6. Confirm that no message says Restart required or Pending restart.

Know what the result means

You have completed the practical check when Chrome reports that it is up to date, Windows finds no additional required updates, Update history shows a successful recent quality update, and no restart is pending.

Windows Update may also deliver Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool, or MSRT, generally on a monthly schedule. It checks for certain widespread threats, but Microsoft does not describe it as a complete antivirus replacement.

If an update fails, note its KB number and error code before trying again. Those details turn a vague problem into something you can search for or show to a helper.

Bottom line

Do not stop at the first update check. Finish every restart, check again, and verify the successful installation in Update history—that is how you know the protection has moved from waiting to working.