One of the major features of Windows 10 is that it pushes regular and automatic updates, in order to keep your laptops with running the latest software functions. This Windows 10 Automatic Updates might come handy to several users as they don’t need to check for updates every time.
However, not every user of Windows 10 wants to update their OS so frequently or regularly. So, today, we will discuss various ways in order to limit or disable the Windows 10 Automatic Updates.
Table of Contents
Metering Your Internet Connection
This is one of the most initial and easy way to prevent the Windows 10 Automatic Update. By limiting or Metering of your Internet Connection, you can ensure that you are not forced to Update the Windows 10 OS as and when the updates are available.
However, Windows 10 comes with a default feature to limit your cellular usage data. This means that if you’re running your laptop on a tethered connection from your smartphone device, the updates won’t download automatically.
Similarly, you can also meter your Wi-Fi network by navigating to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Advanced options and turning Set metered connection ON.
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However, once you have metered your Wi-Fi Internet connection, you will have to now download updates manually by going to Settings > Windows Update > Download.
Disable The Windows 10 Automatic Driver Updates
While there is no direct way to prevent Windows 10 from automatically updating the OS, you can still limit the auto download update of the device driver.
Got to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > System and click on Advanced System Settings.
From here, go to system Properties > Hardware and click on Device Installation Settings.
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A message prompt appears. Click on No and then click on Save Changes.
Using The Group Policy Editor
Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 can help you to have a hold on downloading any updates to your OS. For opening the Group Policy Editor, go to Start Menu/ Cortana and search for gpedit.msc and press enter. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor.
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After this, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates. Select the All Settings option and scroll down in the results to look for Configure Automatic Updates. Double click on this option and select the Enabled option on the left-side.
Under the options section, there are four different ways to configure the automatic updates.
- 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.”
Option 4 gives the user the liberty to schedule the install at any particular date and time of his convenience. However, here we will be selecting Option 2 saying “Notify for download and notify for install.”
This way you can prevent the OS from downloading the updates automatically, but still, get notified of the newly arriving updates. Click on Apply and Ok. Whenever you want to download updates go to Settings > Windows Update > Download.
Using The Registry
You can stop the Windows 10 Automatic Updates by making some minor changes in the Registry. Note that this is a bit tricky process by manipulating some part of the code. We recommend you to take a complete backup of your data before attempting this method. Editing registry can be a bit risky.
Press the Windows + R key on the keyboard to open the Run window. Type regedit and click Ok in order to open the Registry. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows.
Right click on the Windows folder. In the New section click on Key.
Name the new key as Windows Update and press Enter on your keyboard. Right click on this new key named as Windows Update and go to New > Key.
Name this newly created key as AU and press Enter on the keyboard. Click on this newly created key. In the right-hand side of the Window, Right Click > New > DWORD (32-bit).
Name this newly created key on the right-hand side of Window as AUOptions and press Enter on the keyboard. Double click on this newly created key and change its value to any one of the following:
- 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.”
Click on Ok and close the Registry. The best available option from the above four is Value 2. This will prevent any automatic downloads to take place but will keep you notified for any updates.
You can download it manually at your own discretion by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Download.
