[German]I'm posting a problem here on the blog that an administrator brought to my attention last week. He is still running Windows Server 2016 Essentials and is facing the problem that Windows updates are no longer being offered for it. The question is whether other administrators among our readers have observed something similar?
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A reader report
German blog reader Martin W. contacted me via email and wrote on September 19, 2025: "I noticed in August 2025 that my Windows Server 2016 Essential was no longer receiving updates." He then checked and found that the last update received was the "2025-07 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Server 2016 for x64-based systems (KB5062799)".
Since then, no more updates have been found on other systems. The reader told me, that he can observe this on both WSUS and servers without WSUS. They don't even get the new SSU KB5065687 anymore. In August, the reader didn't think much of it, but found it strange. Normal Windows Server 2016 systems receive updates and also find them, regardless of whether they have WSUS or not. The following screenshot shows the updates in question on other machines.
Workaround: Download and install updates
Windows Server 2016 will remain in extended support until January 12, 2027. Administrators can download the relevant updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog and install them manually – that should work.
More such reports
After I've published the German edition of this blog post, more and more blog readers confirmed this behavior. After publishing the German edition of the article, I did a little more searching on the internet. On reddit.com, there is a post titled Windows Server 2016 not being offered updates via Windows Update since August Cumulative update, which describes the same effect.
The person affected states that they have several instances of Windows Server 2016, some physical and some virtual, with some running since 2019 and some newly set up. No updates are offered for the machines; only the message "Your device is up to date" is displayed. The previous service stack is installed (KB5062799), but the cumulative update for August (KB5063871) is still not being offered. While Windows Server 2016 Essentials is specified above, the affected party writes generally about Windows Server 2016 on reddit.com.
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In the Spiceworks community, there is also a post dated September 10, 2025, titled Windows Server 2016, all SKU's not being offered Windows Updates since July. Anyone else? in which someone complains about missing updates for Windows Server 2016 (across all SKUs) since July 2025. Several administrators confirm this observation in this thread.
There appears to have been a similar problem in April 2025, as I gathered from this reddit.com post. Technical problems at Microsoft were said to have been the cause.
Similar articles:
Windows Server 2016: Slow update
Solution for slow start of Windows Server 2016?
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