How to Stop Automatic Update in Windows 10

Microsoft has stuffed Windows 10 with features that are user-friendly and makes up for the quality time.  But feature such as automatic update, in this context, is normally not used by the users. Through the automatic updates, the system automatically updates the application using an older version, when quality updates are found. This feature does not get along well with many users as they are required to restart their device and this causes a bad impact on the users.

If the user does not want to automatically update his /her PC on Windows 10, he/she is asked to read the article further to get the idea of stopping automatic updates on Windows 10. 

How to stop automatic updates on Windows 10 

• Using Settings: To stop the update process for a temporary period of 35 days, the user has to use the Settings application to pause the updates before installation.
• Disabling all updates: To temporarily disable automatic updates on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings and click on Update & Security.
2. Click and open Windows Update and next, open Advanced options. 
3. In the Advanced options, select the time period to keep the automatic update disabled, i.e., 35 days, from the drop-down menu by clicking on the “Pause Updates” option.

After completing the steps, the device will not receive updates or update notification until the specified day.

• Disabling security updates. In this case, the device temporarily disables the quality automatic updates up to 30 days. To disable security updates on Windows 10, use these steps:

Open Settings and follow the similar steps as followed earlier up to Advanced Options. Follow the same steps by selecting Pause Updates, opening Pause Updates, opening a drop-down menu form where the user can select the number of days he wants the updates to be postponed, i.e., 30 days.

After you complete the steps, until the limit has been reached, the computer will not download or install quality monthly updates.

• Using Group Policy:  Local Group Policy Editor is a special feature for Windows10 to disable automatic updates permanently.

• Disabling updates. To disable automatic updates on Windows 10 permanently, follow these steps:

1. Open Start and search for gpedit.msc  and select the top result.
2. After opening the selected searched result, navigate to computer configuration and open Administrative Templates. Select and open the Windows Component. Search and open Windows Update.
3. In Windows Update, double-click the Configure Automatic Updates policy on the right side and check out for the Disabled option to turn off the policy.
4. Click on Apply and at last on the OK button to enable.

Completing these steps will enable Windows 10 to stop downloading updates automatically.

• Using Registry. If you’re running Windows 10, you can use Registry to permanently disable the Auto Update.

• Disabling updates. To permanently disable Windows Update using the Registry, use these steps:

1. Open Start and type regedit in the search box. Select the required result.
2. Next, open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and SOFTWARE simultaneously. Search and open Policies and select Microsoft to further open Windows by right-clicking on it.
3. Click on the Key and name the new key “WindowsUpdate”, press Enter and right-click the newly created key, select New, and click, again, on Key.
4. Name the new key AU, press Enter and right-click on the right side, select New, and click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.
5. Name this new key NoAutoUpdate, press Enter and double-click the newly created key and change its value from 0 to 1.
6. Click the OK button and restart your computer. After restarting, the updates will be stopped.

These steps should stop automatic updates from being downloaded and installed on the computer.

Conclusion

Our computer system and other gadgets need updates, as it is a pivotal action for the safeguard of your device and data and improvement of the overall experience since the users are asked not to use an unpatched computer. But, there are many situations that promote disabling updates, for applying updates manually or to keep the older version due to the fact that the version had been trustworthy and the user has been accustomed to it, as the case may be.