"
Windows Update" is an essential program and part of Windows operating system. It regularly checks Microsoft servers for available updates, hotfixes and new hardware drivers. If it finds any new updates available, it notifies you about the updates and lets you download and install them in your computer system.
Installing these updates in Windows is very important as it improves Windows performance, reliability and stability. It also fixes several security issues if found in Windows operating system.
In previous Windows versions such as Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1, Microsoft always allowed Windows users to customize Windows Update settings. Users were able to choose whether Windows should automatically download and install the updates or should it notify first about the updates available. It helped users in deciding whether he wanted to install particular update or not. It also helped in saving valuable Internet connection bandwidth if the user was on a limited Internet connection.
But in the latest
Windows 10 operating system,
Microsoft has removed the ability to disable or change Windows Update download behavior. In Windows 10, all updates are automatically downloaded and installed without notifying the user. Although its not a problem as Windows updates are helpful for the OS but sometimes a faulty device driver might get installed via Windows Update which may cause your computer not bootable. Sometimes a few Windows updates may also cause system problems. So many Windows users want to disable Windows updates.
Although Microsoft has disabled Windows Update customization options in Windows 10, there are a few ways present to block or manually download Windows updates in Windows 10.
If you are using Windows 10 and want to change Windows Update download behavior or want to permanently disable or block Windows Update, following methods will definitely help you.
We are listing all possible methods and you can try any of the desired method according to your requirements.
All these methods will work in all Windows 10 editions such as Windows 10 Home, Pro, etc:
- METHOD 1: Customize Windows Update Using Advanced Options Page
- METHOD 2: Disable Automatic Download of Device Driver Software
- METHOD 3: Hide Updates Using Official Troubleshooter Tool from Microsoft
- METHOD 4: Set Your Internet Connection as Metered Connection
- METHOD 5: Change Windows Update Settings Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
- METHOD 6: Change Windows Update Settings Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
- METHOD 7: Disable Windows Update Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
- METHOD 8: Disable Windows Update Service
Now without wasting time lets start the tutorial:
METHOD 1: Customize Windows Update Using Advanced Options Page
This is the most basic method to customize Windows Update settings in Windows 10 and prevent it from downloading at least some updates automatically and also prevent it from automatically restarting the computer.
This method will not disable or block Windows Update. If you want a simple and basic method, this is for you!
1. Open
Settings app from Start Menu and go to "
Update & security -> Windows Update".
2. Now click on "
Advanced options" link.
3. First select "
Notify to schedule restart" option from drop-down box. It'll stop Windows from automatically restart your computer after downloading and installing updates.
4. Now uncheck "
Give me updates for other Microsoft products when I update Windows" option. It'll block automatic download of a few updates which are related to various Microsoft products.
5. Now enable "
Defer upgrades" option. When this option is enabled, new Windows updates will not be downloaded and installed for several days or months. But security updates will be downloaded immediately. Enabling this option will ensure you that all Windows updates will receive enough testing before they get installed in your computer.
6. Now click on "
Choose how updates are delivered" link and set the slider to
Off given under "
Updates from more than one place". It'll help you in saving your Internet connection bandwidth as this feature works quite similar to P2P or torrents.
METHOD 2: Disable Automatic Download of Device Driver Software
You can also prevent Windows Update from automatically download and install your device driver software with the help of following tutorial:
[Tip] Customize Installation of Device Driver Software from Windows Update Although the tutorial was written for Windows 7 but it still works for Windows 10. It'll stop Windows Update from getting driver updates for your device hardware.
METHOD 3: Hide Updates Using Official Troubleshooter Tool from Microsoft
Microsoft has also released an official Windows Update troubleshooter tool for Windows 10 which tries to bring the good ol' show or hide Windows updates option back in Windows 10.
First download the tool from following link:
Download Windows 10 Updates Troubleshooter Tool from Microsoft Run the tool and it'll provide you an option to show or hide Windows updates.
Click on "
Hide updates" option and you'll be able to hide desired update given in the list.
The tool might come handy if you want to disable unwanted driver updates or unnecessary Windows features or programs.
METHOD 4: Set Your Internet Connection as Metered Connection
There is another workaround to prevent Windows from automatically download and install updates.
You just need to set your Internet connection as Metered connection and Windows will not download new updates on a metered connection.
To set your Internet connection as Metered, follow these simple steps:
1. Open
Settings app from Start Menu and go to "
Network & Internet".
2. Now select your Internet connection type and click on
Advanced options link.
3. Now set the slider to
On present under "
Metered Connection".
That's it. Now Windows will not automatically download or install new updates in your computer as far as you keep your Internet connection as Metered.
METHOD 5 / 6: Change Windows Update Settings Using Group Policy or Registry
Now lets talk about some advanced methods!
Although Microsoft has removed built-in options to change Windows Update download behavior in Windows 10 but the good ol' Group Policy and Registry tweaks to customize Windows Update settings still work in Windows 10.
If you remember, we posted an exclusive tutorial to change Windows Update settings in Windows 10 when the settings are managed or disabled by system administrator at following link:
How to Change Windows Update Settings When Disabled by Administrator? The tutorial was written when Windows 10 was under development and Microsoft disabled customizing Windows Update settings in
Windows 10 Preview build.
The good thing is that the same trick still work in Windows 10 final version and you can use the given Group Policy Editor method or Registry Editor method to change Windows Update settings in Windows 10. You can set it to
notify before download and install Windows updates or
automatic download but notify before install updates or any other action.
BUT there is a small glitch. Since Microsoft has completely replaced old Windows Update program with a new modern app in Windows 10, the Group Policy or Registry tweak to change Windows Update settings don't work immediately. Even after restarting your computer or executing
gpupdate /force command, the changes are not applied in Windows Update window. If you open Windows Update settings, you'll still see that the option is set to "Automatic (recommended)".
Then how to force Windows 10 to apply our Group Policy or Registry changes? Its actually very simple!
You just need to click on "Check for updates" button in Windows Update.
As soon as you click on the button, Windows will immediately apply the changes. Now if you open advanced options in Windows Update, you'll see the new settings have been applied successfully.
So you need to let Windows Update check for new updates at least once after you make changes in Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor.
METHOD 7: Disable Windows Update Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
If you want to completely disable or block Windows Update, you can use following Registry tweak:
1. Type
regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open
Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
3. Create a new key under
Windows key and set its name as
WindowsUpdate 4. Create another new key under
WindowsUpdate key and set its name as
AU So the final key path would be:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
5. Now select
AU key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD
NoAutoUpdate and set its value to
1 6. Close Registry Editor, open Windows Update and click on "
Check for updates" button to force apply changes as mentioned in previous method.
Now if you check Windows Update settings, it'll be set to "
Never check for updates (not recommended)".
If you decide to enable Windows Update again in future, simply delete the DWORD
NoAutoUpdate from Registry.
METHOD 8: Disable Windows Update Service
At last you can disable "Windows Update" service completely in Windows 10 which will 100% block Windows 10 from downloading and installing updates in your computer.
1. Press
Win+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Type
services.msc in the textbox and press Enter. It'll open Services Manager.
2. Scroll down to bottom and you'll see a service "
Windows Update" in the list.
3. Double-click on the service and change its
Startup type to
Disabled.
That's it. Now try to check for new updates in Windows Update and you'll see error message 0x80070422: there were some problems installing updates.
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That's it. You can use any of the above mentioned methods to change Windows Update download behavior or to block Windows Update in Windows 10. Although we don't recommend disabling or blocking Windows Update as the updates are required to keep Windows running fine and secure...
Windows 10 Automatic Updates Enable/Disable script
Source:
Here!