How To Pause Windows 10 Updates - Automatic Update Assistance

Windows will no longer be just an operating system. Microsoft has made it clear that Windows 10 will be a service and will keep receiving new features through Windows updates. Having understood that, there are reasons where you would want to pause or disable the updates for some time. So, how would you be able to pause Windows 10 updates? Let us check out the options available to you.

Windows Updates – What are They?

If you are a Windows 10 user (or for that matter a Microsoft Windows user even in its earlier avatars), you should be well aware of the Windows 10 updates. Microsoft has introduced the concept of Automatic Updates.

The automatic updates are aimed at improving the user experience, security, and performance of your Windows 10 device. Microsoft has enabled the Automatic Updates by default. This will mean whenever Microsoft releases an update for your device or version of Windows 10; it will be downloaded to your Windows 10 device even without your accepting the prompt. This will ensure that you will stay safer and perfect in terms of your Windows 10 performance.

Since you do not need to update the process manually, you can keep working on your tasks, while Windows 10 keeps updating your device in the background.

Why do you need to pause the Windows 10 Update?

That should be a valid question. It is well understood that Windows 10 updates are designed to provide a solid functionality for your operating system. In such a scenario, it would be seen as an unwise decision to pause the updates.

However, several reasons would make it essential to pause the updates. Maybe you are using a metered connection and are concerned with the substantial data usage. In some cases, you may be having a slower connection, and the Windows updates can slow down your productivity to a considerable extent.

Yet another issue you would find affecting your Windows 10 devices is the bugs in the updates. No matter how much careful Microsoft may be, several issues may occur during your system updates. Maybe you want to wait for a while before you can apply the updates. Waiting for the upgrades will ensure that you can stay away from any of the bugs and have access to the complete version of the update when it is made available after proper fixes.

There are several scenarios where you would find that the Windows Updates are quite annoying and intrusive and interfere with your proper schedule of work. In such cases, it may be wiser enough to pause the Windows update and opt for a suitable time when you can reconfigure your Windows ecosystem to receive the updates once again.

How to pause Updates on Windows 10?

The option for pausing the Windows updates were available only for the Windows 10 Pro users. However, with the recent updates, the feature has been made available for the Windows 10 Home users as well.

The Pause Windows 10 update feature has been made available for all the versions of Windows 10 operating systems with the latest update to Windows 10. If you are running the May 2019 Windows 10 version – also known as Version 1903 – you should be able to find the functionality available on your Windows 10 device.

The initial information available indicated that the option of pausing the Windows 10 updates could be activated for about seven days alone. However, when the Windows 10 Version 1903 arrived a few days before on our device, we found the option to pause the updates to up to 35 days. You can configure it according to your preferences.

Here are the step by step instructions that you need to go through if you want to pause the Windows 10 updates on your Windows 10 device –

Move to the Windows 10 Settings.
Head on to the group – Update and Security
From the left side menu bar, find and locate the option Windows Update.
You should find the option the pause updates for Seven days.

You can click on it and enable the option to pause the update for up to seven days. If you are looking to increase this duration further, you can follow the steps explained here below –

Follow the above options to reach up to the Windows Update section.
Click on Advanced Options
Locate the option for Pause Updates
Choose a time of your preference depending upon the time up to which you want to pause the updates.

Please note that you will be able to pause the updates for up to 35 days.

Once the updates have been paused, Windows 10 will not check the updates available on your device. The updates will resume only after the expiry of the date you have configured. If you want to continue the updates once again, you will need to click on Resume Updates.

Can You Permanently Disable the Updates on Windows 10?

Well, no. And this is not exactly what we would recommend either. The Windows 10 updates can be paused for a period for up to 35 days. While the default option offers you an ability to pause the update for up to seven days, you configure it further as we have explained in the above steps.

We would consider it to be considerable development and enhancement. This is exactly what should make it one of the best features. This should be an excellent option to let Windows know that you do not want to be bugged about the updates.

What if You are no Longer on Windows 10 version 1903?

The option for pausing the updates is not available on your Windows 10 device if you are not on Windows 10 version 1903. If you are Windows 10 user and do not have access to the latest update, there are a few other methods you can opt for.

Method 1 – Use Registry Editor to Pause Updates

Please note that Registry Editor is a powerful tool and should be used with utmost care. We recommend using this option only when you are confident of configuring it properly. A miss and you may end up with a system that is not working effectively.

Follow the steps here to enable the feature to pause updates –

Type in regedit in the search field and choose Registry Editor from the search results.
Enter the following path

              HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE>Policies>MicrosoftWindows>WindowsUpdate

Choose the WindowsUpdate key and create a new DWORD. To do this, right click and choose the option Click on the DWORD Value (32 bit).
Rename this DWORD as SetDisablePauseUXAccess
Double click this entry and set the value as 1.

Click, OK, and your task is done. If you want to enable the updates, you need to reach the registry entry once again and change the value from 1 to 0.

Method 2 – Disable Windows 10 Update using Group Policy Editor

Group Policy Editor is an excellent option and a powerful tool for performing essential tasks. Once again, it is a sophisticated tool, and you need to be careful enough to handle it efficiently. Ensure that you do have the required expertise in handling it.

Here are the steps you would want to take care of to pause updates using the Group Policy editor option –

Launch START and type in msc.
Choose the Group Policy Editor window from among the search results.
Follow the path here to reach the specific component in the Group Policy Editor.

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update

Locate the option for Remove access to Pause updates feature
Click on it to arrive at the settings option for the policy.
Choose Enabled
Click on Apply and then click on OK

That should complete the procedure for configuring the paused updates on your Windows 10 device. Make sure you reboot your Windows 10 device for the changes to take effect. After when you complete these steps, you will no longer be able to find the option for pausing the updates either on your Windows Update section or in the Advanced Settings under Windows Update.

If you want to enable the updates once again, you can reverse the changes you just made in your Group Policy Editor.

The Concluding thoughts

Those were the most accessible options you can use to pause the updates on your Windows 10. Of course, the updates are quite essential and ideally speaking, it should not be a good idea to pause them unless you are indeed facing the huge issues with your updates.

Windows 10, as we have already indicated, is not just an operating system, but offered as part of WaaS or Windows as a Service. This makes the updates quite easy and straightforward, and they keep updating in the background without affecting the standard functionality of your Windows 10 device. Even if you are pausing the updates as a result of some unwanted issues, it may be advisable to opt for enabling the updates once you have resorted your problems.