By bundling these updates, Microsoft is eliminating a real nuisance for Windows users. Until now, Windows has often (frustratingly) required several restarts per month, depending on whether driver, firmware, and .NET updates were released in addition to cumulative Windows updates. Now, however, the plan is for all updates requiring a system restart to wait quietly in the background for the next Patch Tuesday security update.
As soon as the security update is ready for installation, Windows will also install all the other pending updates with it. Afterwards, Windows 11 will restart exactly once to complete the installation of all updates—and ideally, the restart will happen at a time that doesn’t interrupt your work.
Microsoft explains in greater detail on this support page:
Windows helps keep your device secure and reliable by downloading and installing updates automatically. Some of these updates need your device to restart before installation can finish. In the past, different types of updates could each ask you to restart at different times during the month — which meant more interruptions than necessary.
Starting with the Windows updates released on and after July 28, 2026, Windows brings these updates together, so you restart just once a month. Instead of restarting for each update as it arrives and installs, Windows holds updates that need a restart and installs them together with the monthly security update. The result is a more predictable update experience with fewer interruptions.
However, there are exceptions, namely updates that need to be installed as quickly as possible for security reasons. These include, for example, updates to Microsoft Defender and priority bug fixes that resolve critical issues outside the regular patch schedule.