How to disable automatic updates on Windows 11

• To disable Windows 11 automatic updates, open Settings > Windows Update, and click the “Pause for 1 week” button to disable updates.
• To prevent updates from downloading automatically, open Group Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update, open the “Configure Automatic Updates” policy and disable it.
• On Windows 11 Home, you can use the Registry to disable updates from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows, creating the “WindowsUpdate” and “AU” keys and then setting the “NoAutoUpdate” DWORD to “1.”

On Windows 11, updates download and install automatically to help maintain your computer and data secure and ensure you have the latest features, improvements, and fixes. However, it’s common for updates to roll out with problems that can negatively affect the experience and performance.

Although it’s impossible to disable Windows 11 completely, you can temporarily pause updates for several days. If you want to disable updates permanently, you can change the automatic updates policy through Group Policy or Registry. However, it will continue to be possible to install updates manually, even after disabling the settings.

In this guide, I will teach you the steps to prevent updates from being installed on Windows 11.

Disable automatic updates on Windows 11 from Settings

To disable Windows 11 automatic updates, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

2. Click on Windows Update.

3. (Optional) Turn off the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” toggle switch under the “More options” section.

4. Click the “Pause for 1 week” button to disable automatic updates for the “Pause updates” setting.

   

Once you complete the steps, Windows 11 updates will stop downloading on your computer for at least one week or until you click the “Resume updates” button.

Block automatic download for a specific update

To prevent a particular update from downloading on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Download Center page.

2. Download the “Show or hide updates troubleshooter” file on your computer.

3. Double-click the “wushowhide.diagcab” file to launch the tool.

4. Click the Next button.

5. Click the “Hide updates” option.

   

6. Select the Windows 11 update or driver to block.

   

7. Click the Next button.

8. Click the Close button.

After you complete the steps, the update will no longer be available through Windows Update. However, when a newer version of the update becomes available, Windows Update will automatically download and install it.

Disable automatic updates on Windows 11 from Group Policy

You can also prevent updates from downloading automatically permanently by adjusting the Windows Update settings through the Group Policy Editor. However, you can only use these steps on Windows 11 Pro since the “Home” edition doesn’t have this tool. If you have Windows 11 Home, you can still disable updates using the Registry

To disable automatic updates permanently from Group Policy on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for gpedit and click the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.

3. Open the “Manage and user experience” folder in the path:

   Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage end user experience

4. Double-click to open the “Configure Automatic Updates” policy.

   

5. Choose the “Disabled” option to disable automatic Windows Update permanently.

   

6. Click the Apply button.

7. Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, Windows Update will no longer download and install system updates automatically on Windows 11. However, you can still check for updates manually through the Settings app.

If you want to undo the changes, you can re-enable automatic updates using the same instructions, but in step 5, select the “Not Configured” option.

Disable automatic updates on Windows 11 from Registry

Alternatively, you can disable automatic Windows 11 Home or Pro updates from the Registry. 

To disable Windows 11 updates from the Registry, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for regedit and click the top result to launch the Registry Editor.

3. Navigate to the following path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

4. Right-click the Windows (folder) key, select New, and choose the Key option.

   

5. Name the key WindowsUpdate and press Enter.

6. Right-click the newly created key, select New, and choose the Key option.

   

7. Name the key AU and press Enter.

8. Right-click the AU key, select New, and choose the “DWORD (32-bit) Value” option.

   

9. Name the new key NoAutoUpdate and press Enter.

10. Double-click the newly created key and change its value from 0 to 1.

    

11. Click the OK button.

12. Restart the computer.

After you complete the steps, Windows Update will stop automatically downloading updates for Windows 11. However, you can still check for updates manually through the Settings app as necessary.

Update July 11, 2024: This guide has been updated to ensure accuracy and reflect changes to the process.