How To Change Widows Update Settings With Group Policy Editor

An up-to-date PC is less vulnerable to attack, so Windows automatic updates are generally a good thing. But sometimes an update will make things worse, rendering a PC problematic, or even unusable until the trouble is solved.

That's why some people prefer to hold off on a update until other people have tried it without disaster. Merely this requires you lot to take time out of your day to proceed up on the news near Windows updates (a Google News alert tin help).

If you're using Windows 10, you lot've got another problem: It won't allow you turn off automated updates. Luckily, there are two workarounds.

But if you lot chose to apply one of these tricks, remember to follow the update news.

Change the Group Policy

If you accept a Professional person, Enterprise, or Education edition of Windows 10, you can turn off automatic updates. But the pick is hidden. Here'southward what to do in version 1703, if you have a later on version of Windows 10 these settings still utilise, but the wording is slightly dissimilar.

Press Win-R, blazon gpedit.msc , press Enter. This brings up the Local Grouping Policy Editor.
Navigate the left pane equally if it were File Explorer to Reckoner Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Defer Updates.
Choose Select when Feature Updates are received.

grouppolicy1703 — Group Policy editor in Windows 10 1703.

In the resulting dialog box, select Enabled.
In the Options box, type in how many days you'd similar to pause updates and so in the adjacent field blazon in today's date.
ClickUseand soOK

grouppolicyfeatureupdates — Pausing feature updates in Windows 10.

If you want to you lot tin can repeat this process for the second setting in Group Policy named Select when Quality Updates are received. Keep in mind, however, that quality updates include security updates and skipping them is not the best idea. On the upside, security updates are cumulative meaning if you do skip these updates, you lot can download the next 1 and be upwards to date.

Microsoft doesn't similar it when people break updates, and fifty-fifty using Group Policy you can break updates for only about 30-35 days, depending on the version of Windows 10 yous're using.

The metered network play a trick on

If y'all've got the plain old Habitation version of Windows x, you can stop some automated updates by lying to your operating system. (Morally speaking, this doesn't bother the states a bit.)

In older versions of Windows 10 this only works with a Wi-Fi network, simply in version 1703 and later ethernet connections tin have part as well.

The play tricks is to tell Windows that you have a metered connection to the Internet—one that tin can only download so many bits per calendar month without increasing your Isp bill. Microsoft says doing this ways "some updates for Windows won't be installed automatically" and some apps may not work as expected.

To tell Windows that you have a metered connectedness (whether you practice or non):

Select Start > Settings > Network & Internet.
Select the Wi-Fi or Ethernet tab in the left pane depending on the connection type you desire to alter.
In the main pane, select the proper noun of your connectedness.
On the next screen turn on Metered connection.

You should do this for whatever network you use, because the setting is set on a per-network ground.

You accept two ways to update manually: Yous can turn off the metered connection option. Or y'all can simply utilise another network to trigger the updates.

This article originally published as an Answer Line column by Lincoln Spector on July 18, 2016.