Windows 10 software updates install on your device automatically (whether you like it or not), but this guide can help you retake control and decide when to install them.
On Windows 10, you no longer have absolute control over software updates. They're mandatory, and they download and install automatically to ensure your device stays up to date with the latest security patches and improvements. This approach is convenient for many users, but it's not one that everyone wants.
If you're running Windows 10 Pro or higher, it's possible to retake control and prevent the OS from downloading and installing updates automatically using the Local Group Policy Editor or the Registry.
In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to prevent updates from automatically installing on your computer.
- How to prevent automatic updates using the Local Group Policy Editor
- How to prevent automatic updates using the Registry
How to prevent automatic updates using the Local Group Policy Editor
If you run Windows 10 (Professional, Enterprise, or Education ), you can use the Local Group Policy Editor to quickly change the settings to prevent Windows 10 from automatically downloading and installing updates.
Here's how to change the Local Group Policy Editor settings:
- Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
- Type gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
Browse the following path:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows UpdateOn the right side, double-click the Configure Automatic Updates policy.
- On the left side, check the Enabled option to enable the policy.
Under Options, you'll find a number of ways to configure automatic updates, including:
- 2 - "Notify for download and notify for install."
- 3 - "Auto download and notify for install."
- 4 - "Auto download and schedule the install."
- 5 - "Allow local admin to choose setting."
You should select the update option you want to configure. If you select option 4, you can specify exactly when to install new updates. You can also choose to install updates during automatic maintenance, on a particular day and time, and you can even check the option to include other Microsoft product updates when updating the OS.
- Click Apply.
- Click OK to complete the task.
While you can pick from any of the available options, your best choice is probably 2 - Notify for download and notify for install. This option will not only prevent the OS from downloading updates automatically, which can save you data when using a metered internet connection, but you'll get a notification when new updates are available.
When new updates are released, you'll receive a notification in Action Center, but updates won't download and install until you're ready and do the following:
- Open Settings.
- Click on Update & security.
- Click on Windows Update.
Click the Download button.
- Click the Restart button to complete the task.
How to prevent automatic updates using the Registry
Instead of using the Local Group Policy Editor, you can also change the Windows 10 updates using the Registry.
Important warning: Editing the registry is risky, and it can cause irreversible damage to your installation if you don't do it correctly. It's recommended that you make a full backup of your computer before proceeding.
- Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
- Type regedit, and click OK to open the Registry.
Browse the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsRight-click the Windows (folder) key, select New, and then click Key.
- Name the new key WindowsUpdate and press Enter.
Right-click the newly created key, select new, and click Key.
- Name the new key AU and press Enter.
Inside the newly created key, right-click on the right side, select New, and click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name the new key AUOptions and press Enter.
Double-click the newly created key and change its value using one of the following options:
- 2 - "Notify for download and notify for install."
- 3 - "Auto download and notify for install."
- 4 - "Auto download and schedule the install."
- 5 - "Allow local admin to choose settings."
- Click OK.
- Close the Registry to complete the task.
Although you can use any of these available values, your best choice is to change the value to 2 to configure the "Notify for download and notify for install" option. Using this value prevents Windows 10 from downloading updates automatically, and you'll get a notification when new updates are available.
After tweaking the Registry, when new updates become available, you'll receive a notification in Action Center, but updates won't download and install until you're ready and do the following:
- Open Settings.
- Click on Update & security.
- Click on Windows Update.
Click the Download button.
- Click the Restart button to complete the task.
Wrapping things up
The steps mentioned in this guide are meant to prevent regular updates that patch security vulnerabilities and improve the overall performance of Windows 10. If you're looking to prevent the OS from installing feature updates, such as the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you need to use this guide to defer major updates.
We do not recommend using a computer without the latest updates, because they're often key to keeping your Windows 10 PC running properly. However, there will be times when you may want to manually apply new updates, when you want to install them during a particular time, or because you want to wait until you're sure the update will not cause issues.
If you only want to prevent your computer from restarting when you're actively using it you can configure Active Hours in the Settings app.
More Windows 10 resources
For more help articles, coverage and common questions about Windows 10, check out the following resources:
Reader comments
How to stop Windows 10 auto updates
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Will this feature to allow blocking of Windows 10 updates indefinitely (Professional Edition only) continue to be available after the Creators Update available on April 11, 2017?
Also, does this fix block absolutely every update, including Security Updates?
Do you anticipate that this feature to delay Microsoft Updates indefinitely will continue to be available after the Windows 10 Creators Update available on April 11, 2017?
Does this stop all updates, including security updates?
"what's the point of auto updates" yes it's good to keep you pc up to date. Okay I had a win 7 pc which after sp 1 updates tended to slow my pc down and eventually the blue screens appeared. So a fresh install followed with sp 1, auto updates turned off no more blue screens. When programs asked for a update like dot net I simply downloaded that program. So "my opinion" we do not need auto updates to keep the pc running fine .
And as for the creators pack estimateed date April 11, this most likely going to be around 2GB +. Why do I need that? It does not intrest me, I don't want to make 2d images look 3d.
Can I block it? Not as the OS is configured. SO yes I want to turn auto updates OFF. I want to pick and choose, security yes that's a given. But all the other stuff should be a choice, to have or have not. M$ listen give us the choice. At present my pc is running okay, my "winver" is14393.969.
Windows 10 is getting to bloated. Give us a cut down secur version and allow us to "bolt on" the other stuff if we want.And that includes Cortana which has never worked properly for me, and I don't need it
A big salut to this website and it's writers
This helped me really alot
Thanks from my heart
hi guys , i was looking for way to stop windows 10 from using traffic on its own and slowing me down , after so much search i found this video helpful
https://youtu.be/uPMAUykyGzw
i know it will help you too .
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How to broke your Windows 10.
Can I apply these registry tweaks to Windows 10 Mobile also because Windows 10 Mobile also has similar registry tree?
Since when updates are annoying? Updates is a must to prevent and fix bugs/issues. This author might be using counterfeit version of Windows! Smh.
Not necessarily. I find this a hugely useful find! My software is legit, but my machines are a bit old. There's no SSDs and when Windows decides to update, it does so at maximum capacity. At that point my PC's are rendered nearly useless for some time. And that's only when it's downloading/preparing. It's preposterous that a productivity device has blocking states "out of the box" with W10 installed. Putting it back to the good old but still annoying notification at least puts me in control.
2 - "Notify for download and notify for install.""
SHould be the only option, It will say you need updates, you can click cancel and in a day it will ask again. You can blow it off for a few days.
The big thing I HATE about Windows 10 is, it will reboot no matter what when it gets to it's point... Docs open ? Graphic editing open ? Microsoft does not care.
I don't get it. Updates are good fore everyone, I think.
Oh man it's so annoying that a company is giving me free updates and new features. Why would they ever do that???
Just go into your settings and set the active hours to when you're going to be using your machine. You could probably set it to all day so it never automatically installs. As a person whose family always asks them to fix their computer, this is a god send. Most of the time updating the machine fixes their issues, but they turned off the updates completely. Since the Windows 10 auto updates I have received fewer calls and emails asking for help. This feature is a great one. Get Windows Pro if you want even more control.
How would you like it if you're in the middle of making a project. for some reason the app you're using stops working so you have to reboot. Then as you hit the start button you're only options are upgrade and shutdown and reboot and shutdown. I nearly missed the deadline of my project because of this bullshit. I'm working full time while taking up my masters, I barely have enough time so I had no choice but to cram, then this bullshit happened. Even under ordinary circumstances, we should be given the choice not to update because everyone knows that windows updates are full of bugs. I would only update nce those bugs are fixed, cause it's working perfectly right now anyway and i don't need anything else.
I'm doing this. Fer sure. So many ******* times I go on my laptop and everything is closed. Because it restarted!!!!!!!!
Then set your active hours so it doesn't auto update, or turn off your computer when you're done using it. It can't update if it's not on.
Not everyone works regular hours ;)
I very much prefer the Windows 7 Manual update method of choosing your update depending on the size...personally,I was able to complete it faster than the Auto.
Ya, that's one thing I miss, but I like the auto update. My family and friends don't ask me to fix their computer as often. Most of the time I fixed their computer by installing the last 6 months of updates they decided not to do. Every time they were impressed that updating the computer is all they had to do. I always installed the required, recommended, and optional updates. Drivers were they only thing I hesitated on.
The only update I get is from Defender, or maybe I don't know when its updating.
In the update setting, there might be a text button beneath the "Check for updates" button that says "Check online for updates from Microsoft Update". I have to click that on my work Surface Pro 3 to get some of the updates. Windows Defender will have more frequent updates though. Also make sure the "Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows" checkbox is checked. Both of those features should be part of the main update check, but for some reason they aren't.
Or just go to services and disable windows updates, then you will not get any updates, neither from windows nor from windows store. And you can active it when you need download something from windows store or update some apps.
Telling users how to stop security updates is bad, this should not be encouraged
Agreed. The article should explain Active Hours and Derfer Updates instead. However, some of the methods they outlined would intimidate a non-thechie user. I would bet that only a tach savy person would attempt this despirte the walkthrough.
Having control over a person's own computer is bad? Some of us like to make our own decisions rather than others making them for us. But then I realize there are those who are bent on forcing their will on others for the "greater good". Many of us resist that stance, especially when we've experienced the downfalls.
If leaving your computer open to attack and other malicious activity only affected you, then sure... knock yourself out, turn them off, get infected. See if I care. But it doesn't just affect your, does it? Infected computers become nodes in huge botnets, sending spam, distributing malware, etc. It is irresponsible and incosiderate for anybody with an internet connected computer to not install security updates.
An alternative is to set the current network as a metered connection.
W10 is now improving IMO. This article is just for knowledge/awareness.
Agreed. I like it and have not had any problems. That's on a 4yr. Old hp pavillion desktop.
I run Windows 10 on my Compaq Presario from 2006. One of the first AMD dual core laptops that maxes out at 2GB RAM. I've only replaced the harddrive the whole time I've had it. I'm impressed that the 11 year old laptop runs W10 better than it ever ran Windows XP.
Very much needed this :-) :-) :-)
Thanks a lot!
This is one of the worst features brought about by W10. I really don't get why they continue to give no option to opt out with so much backlash.
Because there is the Defer Update option for Windows 10 Pro, Active Hours, and metered connection options. There is no need to do any of what is listed on this page. I only have active hours set and I never have an issue with random updating or long reboots.
Active hours on the home edition is only for a maximum of 8 hours. How many people only have an 8 hour per day contiguous window that their computer can't randomly restart? Fifteen minutes after active hours and all my unsaved work was lost in a restart. Then I needed to wait 25 minutes until I could use my own computer again. All this because my metered connection became non-metered to download an app that required a non-metered connection.
Exactly. Microsoft's implementation of active hours is garbage and never will be good considering the computer should never restart when you don't want it to even outside your active hours. We seriously need more control over updates.
I hope the store issue on mobile will be resolved in the next build
What issue? I don't have any issues on my 950 XL running the latest Release Preview build.
Way to go completely off topic....
Will the registry one work with Home?
These steps are targeted for professional and above versions of Windows 10. In my test updates continued to download in Windows 10 Home. Thanks,
Not sure, but you can set your active hours and set your connection as a metered connection to prevent updates.
It doesn't. I tried the same as Mauro did and don't work. I was able to do a registry hack for stopping the Customer Experience going to MS. So was just curious if this would work as well. But it don't. Thanks! Out of all my Windows 10 devices (PC, Laptop, Tablet), only my main PC is HOME. Wish I could swap the license on my tablet to my main PC!
nope, they will keep annoying you after a while if you don't hit "download" it will show a fullscreen prompt interrupting whatever you're doing and opening the settings app to compel you to press "download"
only true solution is disabling the updating service altogether, and they have arbitrarily made sure you lose a lot more than useless cumulative updates by doing that
If Microsoft's goal was to make sure all Windows 10 users are on the latest update they should have used messaging and nagging to get users to update and only resort to forced updates if a user ignores those messages for too long. Just like the whole upgrade to windows 10 fiasco they are too eager to force these updates on people and the end result will be the opposite of what they wanted with guides like this one showing users how to avoid these updates completely.
The right solution would be to show a message, if it's a critical update to fix a volunerability make it clear that the user should install the update as soon as possible and that if they don't, in 3 days it will be installed automatically. Give them options, do it now, do it tonight, I'll do it later (which means it won't happen automatically for 3 days). For feature updates, show a message with a preview of some of the key features the user will get and give them 30 days to install it before it's forced on them.
It's a much simpler solution that lets the user know their computer will be updated and restarted soon and takes away the biggest problem with these auomatic updates (auto restarts). No need for active hours, pausing updates or any of that nonsense Microsoft will do while trying to still solve this problem with RS3 and whatever updates are next
Ya...because people like popups on thier screens. I understand what you're saying, but I know too many people that would be more annoyed by this. Most people I know do not have issues with the auto update feature and don't even realize their machine was updated. A good OS should be invisible to the user so the user can do what they need to. Any user can avoid updates by setting active hours and/or setting their internet connection as a metered connection. No need for registry edits or annoying popups.
Or you can start Task manager > Services > Services > Windows Update (properties) > Disable & stop. This will also prevent downloads from Store but updates will be stoped until you start the Services again :D
I do this also and have a calendar reminder to check updates once a month. Win10 Pro. I don't know if it can be done on the home addition.
Or set the acitive hours and say your internet connection is a metered connection.
Awesome, thanks so much for this article!
Is there a way to do the same on Win 10 Mobile? It is super annoying when the phone restarts by itself during the night and then I miss calls because it requires PIN entry...
Who calls you during the night? How do they dare?
"How do they dare?". I had a smile and laugh at that. Made my day. ☺
You could disable PIN entry for the SIM card and just leave it on for the phone.
I depend on my Windows phone and Realarm to wake me for work every morning - why don't you just change your active hours for the device? Works for me!
I've never had to enter a PIN to answer a call even if the device is restarted. Try setting your active hours to prevent random restarts. The phone should also give you a notification when an update is downloaded and waiting to install (check your notification settings). From the update settings you can press the "restart now" button or set the exact time you'd like the update to install. Browse around your device's settings. Windows mobile gives you a surprising amount of control.
Well I don't want my device restarting without my consent, period. Once my phone started restarting during a night out around 3 AM - I found out when I was going to call an Uber for my friends and me. Nothing beats waiting in the cold for 10 or so minutes while the gears are turning... Is it the end of the world? Of course not..but damn, was I mad at that time.
My point is: what is wrong with giving the user the option to find a good time and then restart manually to finish installing the updates? Are the updates really so important they can't wait a day or two?
The 1 month update delay in RS2 should keep all naysayers at bay, given the occasional botched update.
It doesn't really solve the problem of a botched update because by the time you'd know an update that was released is botched it would be too late to then pause updates. It's just another bad solution for the wrong problem.
It would be since after a month they would rerelease the proper update.
After the 2 month delay is over and a potential botched update is installed there will be patches by then. Microsoft has been known to take down botched updates and put them back once the issue is fixed. Either way there isn't an issue.
They aren't actually annoying!
They are annoying when they make your computer unstable. It happened to me when the driver for my apu got updated. It was unstable and kept crashing my laptop. So I had to find a way to stop it from installing automatically. I was able to do it, but someone who isn't tech savvy would probably not have been able to do it.
How does a constructive and factual criticism like this get downvoted? Guess the die-hard fanatics on this site simply can't stand the truth...
Wouldn't that be more the fault of the hardware vendor for putting out a driver that causes issues?
Yes of course it would. But it's easier to s*** on Microsoft rather than taking it up with the hardware vendor instead.
It's not the hardware vendor that forced the update. Besides, I had a Windows 10 OS update kill my computer, you can't palm that off on anyone but Microsoft.
Wsheep wont get it
There was an update for the Surface Pro 2 that broke Wifi. That's all on MS. They make the hardware and software. It was later fixed, but required having a usb to ethernet adapter to get the new update.
I've had the same thing happen with a cumulative update to Windows 10... Made my desktop unusable and required a format and reinstall to fix.
Then, Microsoft must push stable updates to general public. My logic is, if I am trusting Microsoft with the OS, Windows 10, then I must trust them about the updates as well. I am a developer, and I generally push updates to fix the bugs not to make my app unstable. So, auto updates aren't annoying, but buggy updates are!