WP8 Tip: Solving Update Error 801881e4

Recently I was working with one Windows Phone 8 device that was giving me an error when trying to check for software updates.

The phone is supposed to automatically check for updates every week, but you can make the device to check for updates by going to “settings”, then tapping into “phone update” and finally tapping into “check for updates”. The phone will contact the server and see if there are any available updates.

When doing this on one of the devices I have been developing with, I was getting the following message:

"We are currently unable to check for updates. (801881e4)”

Not a very helpful message. I tried looking for a solution online for this specific error, but didn’t have much luck. After a few tries, I noticed that the date on this specific device was wrong. Since it is a development device, it didn’t have a Microsoft ID setup, and the date wasn’t correct. Turns out that setting the correct account fixed the problem, and then I was able to get a successful response when checking for updates.

To setup the correct date, simply go to “settings”, tap into “date+time” and verify the date. If the phone is configured to “set automatically”, you might need to switch that off, so you can actually enter the correct date and time.