In September, Windows Update for Business deployment service unified under Windows Autopatch. Unification is going through a gradual rollout over the next several weeks. If your experience looks different from the documentation, you didn't receive the unified experience yet. Review Prerequisites and Features and capabilities to understand licensing and feature entitlement.
Windows Autopatch is a cloud service that automates Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Teams updates to improve security and productivity across your organization.
Unique to Windows Autopatch
Rather than maintaining complex digital infrastructure, businesses want to focus on what makes them unique and successful. Windows Autopatch offers a solution to some of the challenges facing businesses and their people today:
Close the security gap: Windows Autopatch keeps software current, there are fewer vulnerabilities and threats to your devices.
Close the productivity gap: Windows Autopatch adopts features as they're made available. End users get the latest tools to amplify their collaboration and work.
Optimize your IT admin resources: Windows Autopatch automates routine endpoint updates. IT pros have more time to create value.
On-premises infrastructure: Transitioning to the world of software as a service (SaaS) allows you to minimize your investment in on-premises hardware since updates are delivered from the cloud.
Onboard new services: Windows Autopatch makes it easy to enroll and minimizes the time required from your IT Admins to get started.
Minimize end user disruption: Windows Autopatch releases updates in sequential deployment rings, and responding to reliability and compatibility signals, user disruptions due to updates are minimized.
Windows Autopatch helps you minimize the involvement of your scarce IT resources in the planning and deployment of updates for Windows, Microsoft 365 Apps, Microsoft Edge, or Teams. Windows Autopatch uses careful rollout sequences and communicates with you throughout the release, allowing your IT Admins can focus on other activities and tasks.
The goal of Windows Autopatch is to deliver software updates to registered devices; the service frees up IT and minimizes disruptions to your end users. Once a device is registered with the service, you have access to the following features through the Microsoft Intune admin center:
Features included with Business Premium and A3+ licenses
With Windows Autopatch, you can manage Windows quality update profiles for Windows 10 and later devices. You can expedite a specific Windows quality update using targeted policies.
Hotpatch quality update report provides a per policy level view of the current update statuses for all devices that receive Hotpatch updates.
Important
Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Windows 10/11 Education A3 or A5 (included in Microsoft 365 A3 or A5) do not have access to all Windows Autopatch features. For more information, see Features and capabilities.
Windows Enterprise E3+ and F3 licenses
Important
The information in this article or section only applies if you have Windows Enterprise E3+ or F3 licenses (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5) licenses and have activated Windows Autopatch features.
Feature activation is optional and at no additional cost to you if you have Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 or E5 (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5) licenses.
In addition to the features included in Business Premium and A3+ licenses, if you have Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 or E5 (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5), you have access to all of Windows Autopatch features in your tenant. When you activate Windows Autopatch, you have access to the following features through the Microsoft Intune admin center:
Features included in Windows Enterprise E3+ and F3 licenses
In addition to the Business Premium and A3+ capabilities, with Windows Autopatch, you can create customizable feature update deployments using multiple phases for your existing Autopatch groups. These phased releases can be tailored to meet your organizational unique needs.
When Windows Autopatch detects policies in the tenant are either missing or modified that affects the service, Windows Autopatch raises alerts and detailed recommended actions to ensure healthy operation of the service.
Using Windows quality and feature update reports, you can monitor and remediate managed devices that are Not up to Date and resolve any device alerts to bring managed devices back into compliance.
To stay informed of upcoming changes, including new and changed features, planned maintenance, release and status communications, or other important announcements, navigate to Microsoft 365 admin center > Message center.
Learn how to effectively roll out updates to Windows devices and Microsoft 365 Apps. You can deploy updates faster and support your remote workforce by following a three-phase process, **Plan > Prepare > Deploy**.
Plan and execute an endpoint deployment strategy, using essential elements of modern management, co-management approaches, and Microsoft Intune integration.