Start using Windows Autopatch

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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.

For more information, see Licenses and entitlements. If you choose not to go through feature activation, you can still use the Windows Autopatch service for the features included in Business premium and A3+ licenses.

Before you begin the process of deploying updates with Windows Autopatch, ensure you meet the prerequisites.

Once you're ready to deploy updates to your devices, you can either use Microsoft Intune or Microsoft Graph to manage updates with Windows Autopatch.

Use Microsoft Intune for Windows Autopatch

  1. Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center.
  2. In the left pane, select Devices and then navigate to Manage updates > Windows updates.

To start using the service, you must create an update policy owned by Windows Autopatch. The update policy can be one of the following:

Once a device or Microsoft Entra device group is associated with a Windows Autopatch policy, your tenant is now using the Autopatch service to manage updates. Devices are registered with the service following the process as described in Register your devices.

Activate Windows Autopatch features

Important

You must be a Global Administrator to consent to the feature activation flow.

If your tenant meets the licensing entitlement for Windows 10/11 Enterprise E3 or E5 (included in Microsoft 365 F3, E3, or E5), you can activate Windows Autopatch features by either:

Method Description
Banner method Select the banner and follow the consent prompt on the side page that appears.
Intune admin center Go to the Microsoft Intune admin center. In the left pane, select Tenant Administration > Windows Autopatch > Activate features.

When you activate Windows Autopatch features, Windows Autopatch creates deployment rings. For more information about deployment rings, see Windows Autopatch deployment rings.