No matter if they’re regular as clockwork, or good for your computer’s health and security, there’s no denying that Windows Updates can put a wrench in any workday. Particularly for those with older machines or HDD hard drives, the process can be slow and keep you from using your machine for a good few hours.

In this article, we’ll show you a neat way to permanently pause Windows updates indefinitely so you can keep control over your workflow.

A Major Annoyance

Windows users have grown accustomed to, if not irritated by, regular cumulative and security updates for their operating system on the second Tuesday of every month. In addition, there may also be hotfixes and patches in between. All these can put tremendous strain on your machine’s hardware to the point of not being able to do anything else while updates are happening.

Windows does give users the chance to pause these updates for a few days, or even choose the hours their PCs can restart. But you may not know that you can pause these updates permanently for both Windows 10 and 11.

How to Permanently Pause Windows Updates

There are two major ways of how to permanently pause Windows updates. We’ll show you both the simple and more complicated methods below.

Disable via Services

You can permanently pause Windows Updates via the Services Console. Here’s what to do:

Step 1. Open the Run Dialog box by pressing Win R.

Step 2. Enter “services.msc” and press Ctrl Shift Enter to open as an Administrator.

Step 3. In the Services window, scroll down to “Windows Update.”

Step 4. Right-click this option and choose “Properties” from the context menu.

Step 5. In the new window, stop the update process by clicking the “Stop” button if needed.

Step 6. Click the dropdown menu next to “Startup type” and change the option to “Disabled.”

Step 7. Click the “Apply” button to make the changes and “OK” to confirm. Windows Updates should now be disabled.

Step 8. Restart your machine to implement the changes.

Pause via the Registry

The Windows Registry is where important system settings are located. You can also permanently pause updates here. This is how:

Step 1. Open the Run Dialog box (Win R) and type “regedit” into the text box.

Step 2. Hit (Ctrl Shift Enter) to run as Administrator.

Step 3. In the Registry Editor Window, navigate to the following folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Policies > Microsoft.

Step 4. Right-click the “Windows” folder and select “New,” then “Key.”

Step 5. A new key folder will be added to the Windows folder. Name it “WindowsUpdate.”

Step 6. Right-click on the “WindowsUpdate” folder and then “New” and “Key” to create another folder. Name this “AU.”

Step 7. Right-click anywhere in the window on the right and select “New” and “DWORD (32-bit) Value.”

Step 8. Name the file “NoAutoUpdate” and press “Enter” to confirm.

Step 9. To enable this value, double-click it and change the “Value data” to “1.”

Step 10. Press “OK” and your Windows will no longer automatically update. No restart is required.

A Necessary Evil

Windows Updates are a vital, if not aggravating, part of keeping your operating system healthy and secure. If you pause updates indefinitely, your PC will be at increased risk over time. It’s a good idea to re-enable Windows Updates every now and then to keep your machine up to date.

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