How to change windows update settings windows 10 (Updated)

While you can’t stop Windows 10 updates installing forever, there are ways to delay it for a while.

Microsoft regularly releases windows updates with various bug fixes and security improvements And with the latest windows 10 it’s set to download and install automatically. Early versions of Windows 10 did not offer any control over Windows Updates. After hearing user feedback, The company added a few options and settings in recent versions that allow control windows Updates. If you are looking to stop windows 10 updates download and install automatically Here how to change the default behavior of Windows Update in Windows 10.

Stop Windows 10 Update

Here are the official ways to change windows update settings for windows 10.

Pause Windows update

  • Press Windows key + I to open the Settings
  • Click Update & Security then Windows Update
  • Here on the windows update page click on the Pause updates for 7 days option to immediately stop getting updates for the next seven days.
  • If you want to receive updates before the end of 7 days, click on the Resume updates button present on the same page.

Pause Updates Windows 10

  • Well if you are looking to stop windows updates install for more than 7 days then click on advanced options,
  • Here you will get the option to pause Windows updates from being installed on your device for up to 35 days.

Pause Windows updates

Pause feature & quality updates

With the latest Windows 10 Microsoft churns out two feature updates in a year. If you want to delay a feature update, you can do so for a year. That is, you can defer a feature update for up to 365 days. However, quality updates can be deferred for up to 30 days only.

  • Again open Settings using the keyboard shortcut Windows + I,
  • Click Update & security then Windows  update
  • Here On the Windows Update page, click Advanced options.
  • In the Choose when updates are installed section, you will see two options:

Pause Feature updates windows 10

  1. A feature update includes new capabilities and improvements. It can be deferred for many days.
  2. A quality update includes security improvements. It can be deferred for this many days.

To defer the feature update, in the box below the “A feature update includes new capabilities and improvements. It can be deferred for this many days”, select the number of days until which you want to defer the feature update. As said, you can delay a feature update for up to 365 days.

To delay a quality update, select the number of days from the drop-down box below the “A quality update includes security improvements. It can be deferred for this many days” option. Quality updates can be postponed for a maximum of 30 days.

Set metered connection

Again you can enable metered connection to prevent windows updates from downloading from the Microsoft server.

  • Open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced options.
  • Here Turn off Download updates over metered connections.

Stop Windows update install driver  update

With default settings, Windows 10 automatically downloads and updates device drivers. If you want to stop that, follow the steps below.

  • Press Windows key + R, type regedit and click ok,
  • This will open the Windows registry editor here go to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdate
  • On the right-side, right-click on an empty spot, click New, click DWORD (32-bit) Value and then name it as ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate.
  • Finally, double-click on the newly created ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate value and set its value to 1 to stop Windows 10 from serving device drivers via the Windows Update service.

Disable the Windows Update Service

Windows Update is essentially just another Windows Service, And turn off the Windows Update service didn’t check for and install any updates on your Device.

  • Press Windows key + R type services.msc and click ok,
  • This will open the windows services console,
  • Scroll down and locate the Windows update service,
  • Right-click on windows update service select properties,
  • Click on the “General” tab and change the “Startup Type” to “Disabled”.
  • Then stop the service next to the service status
  • Click apply and ok to make save changes.

When you want to re-enable automatic updates you just follow the same procedure except you select “Automatic” when choosing the “Startup Type”.

Change the Group Policy

If you have a Professional, Enterprise, or Education edition of Windows 10, you can turn off automatic updates. But the option is hidden. Here’s what to do it, if you have a later version of Windows 10 these settings still apply, but the wording is slightly different.

  • Press Win-R, type gpedit.msc press Enter. This brings up the Local Group Policy Editor.
  • Navigate the left pane as if it were File Explorer to
    Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update
  • Choose the option on the right to “Configure Automatic Updates.
  • Select the option that indicates “Notify for download and auto install”.
  • Click Apply and then OK

Group Policy to stop Windows 10 updates

Restart your computer to finish updating the group policy editor. Check for updates. You should be notified by Windows if it finds them but they should not be automatically installed any longer.

Tweak windows registry

Well, the group policy feature not available for Windows 10 Home basic editions if you have a device with windows 10 home installed then you can tweak the windows registry to disable windows updates.

  • 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\Windows
  • Right-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 to 2. It’s for “Notify for download and notify for install”. Click “OK”.
  • Close the Registry to complete the task.

That’s all hope now you have an idea of how to stop or change windows update settings on Windows 10.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More