First, you need to temporarily turn off the Windows Update service (to stop background downloads). Open the Command Prompt, type the:

net stop wuauserv

command, and press Enter.

Open File Explorer, and go to View > Folder Options. Select the Show hidden files, folder, and drives radio button, and click Apply to enable the display of hidden files on your computer.

• Once done, navigate to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete the content of the Download folder.
• Open a new Command prompt window, and run the:

net start wuauserv
command to restart the Windows Update service.

How to purge the Update cache with a batch file?

You can create a batch file and use it as a shortcut to instantly clear the content of the Windows Update cache. Open Notepad, and copy/paste the following code:

net stop wuauserv  
CD %Windir%          
CD SoftwareDistribution          
DEL /F /S /Q Download
net start wuauserv

Click File > Save As, and choose a location to save the file. Click the Save as type drop-down menu, and select All Files. Rename the file Erase_Cache.bat, and click Save.

Your batch file is now ready for use. Right-click the Erase_Cache.bat file, then click Run As Administrator. In doing so, you will automatically delete the content of the Update cache folder.