How to Stop Updates on Windows 10

This step won’t work if you're using Windows Home edition—but you can pause updates as described in the next step. If you're using any other edition, like Windows 10 Pro, these steps can be used to require your approval before any update installs.

1. First, you'll need to open the Group Policy Editor. Open the Start Menu, enter edit group, then select Edit Group Policy.
2. Under Computer Configuration, open the Administrative Templates folder then the Windows Components folder.
3. Select the Windows Update folder.
4. Double-click Configure Automatic Updates on the right and enable it.
5. Set the Configure automatic updating drop-down to 2 - Notify for download and auto-install.
6. Click OK.

When you restart your computer, updates will require your approval to download and install.

You can also temporarily pause updates from downloading for up to 7 days at a time.

1. Open the Start Menu, search for settings, then select Settings from the list. settings
2. Click Update & Security and go to Windows Update.
3. You should see an option titled Pause updates for 7 days.

You can extend the pause even further under Advanced options. Use the drop-down menu under Pause until. You can set a maximum time frame of 35 days—at that point, Windows requires an update before you can pause again.

If you’ve paused or stopped updates, you may need to manually initiate one.

1. Open the Start Menu, search for settings, then open Settings.
2. Click on Update & Security and go to Windows Update.
3. Click Check for updates at the top of the screen. Any pending updates will be waiting for you to install by clicking Download and Install.

Setting an update schedule can help if updates are interfering with your computer use.

1. Open the Start Menu, search for settings, then open Settings.
2. Click on Update & Security and go to Windows Update.
3. Go to Advanced options and use the drop-down menus under Choose when updates are installed to schedule your Windows updates.