Abstract: The characteristics of convective-scale updrafts in the outer core of tropical cyclones (TCs) simulated under lower- and upper-layer vertical wind shear are compared in this study. The results reveal notable differences between the two experiments. (1) The lower-layer shear experiment features a larger proportion of deep updrafts with top heights above 12 km; vertical mass transport and the maximum vertical velocity associated with outer core updrafts are statistically significantly larger in the lower-layer sheared TC than in the upper-layer sheared TC; this difference is related to the larger convective effective potential energy, equivalent temperature, and water vapor mixing ratio in the boundary layer. Furthermore, interactions among the lower-layer vertical wind shear, local wind shear induced by the circulation of the TC, and surface cold pools are conducive to the initiation and development of updrafts. (2) The radial tilts of updrafts are associated with the updraft top height and asymmetric radial flows. Deep-penetrating updrafts are prevalent in the lower-layer shear experiment, tilting radially outward with height in the downshear quadrants under upper-level radial outflow and inward in the upshear quadrants under upper-level radial inflow. However, in the upper-layer shear experiment, most updrafts tend to tilt radially inward with height, primarily driven by asymmetric radial inflow at upper levels in the downshear-right and upshear quadrants and at lower-to-middle levels in the downshear-left quadrant. (3) In the lower-layer shear experiment, relatively symmetric low-level radial inflow prevails, driving most updrafts to migrate inward toward the TC eye across all quadrants. However, in the upper-layer shear experiment, updrafts in the upshear quadrants tend to move radially outward under the influence of radial outflow in the lower levels, whereas those in the downshear quadrants tend to move radially inward under the radial inflow in the lower levels. (4) In the lower-layer sheared TC, most updrafts exhibit large positive thermal buoyancy, large negative water loading, and large negative dynamic buoyancy; hence, the total buoyancy ranges from negative to positive. In comparison, in the upper-layer sheared TC, most updrafts exhibit smaller positive thermal buoyancy, smaller positive dynamic buoyancy, and smaller negative water loading, resulting in smaller positive total buoyancy.