# Viewing available patches
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With Patch Manager, you can view all available patches for a specified operating system and, optionally, a specific operating system version.

**Tip**  
To generate a list of available patches and save them to a file, you can use the [describe-available-patches](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/cli/latest/reference/ssm/describe-available-patches.html) command and specify your preferred [output](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/cli/latest/reference/ssm/cli-usage-output.html).

**To view available patches**

1. Open the Amazon Systems Manager console at [https://console.amazonaws.cn/systems-manager/](https://console.amazonaws.cn/systems-manager/).

1. In the navigation pane, choose **Patch Manager**.

1. Choose the **Patches** tab.

   -or-

   If you are accessing Patch Manager for the first time in the current Amazon Web Services Region, choose **Start with an overview**, and then choose the **Patches** tab.
**Note**  
For Windows Server, the **Patches** tab displays updates that are available from Windows Server Update Service (WSUS).

1. For **Operating system**, choose the operating system for which you want to view available patches, such as `Windows` or `Amazon Linux`.

1. (Optional) For **Product**, choose an OS version, such as `WindowsServer2019` or `AmazonLinux2018.03`.

1. (Optional) To add or remove information columns for your results, choose the configure button (![The icon to view configuration settings.](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/en_us/systems-manager/latest/userguide/images/configure-button.png)) at the top right of the **Patches** list. (By default, the **Patches** tab displays columns for only some of the available patch metadata.)

   For information about the types of metadata you can add to your view, see [Patch](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/systems-manager/latest/APIReference/API_Patch.html) in the *Amazon Systems Manager API Reference*.