How To Disable Windows 10 Home Update

Before I begin, I want to be very clear that this is not something I recommend. I believe strongly that keeping your machine as up to date as possible is an important part of keeping yourself safety online. Letting Windows Update exercise its thing automatically, without having to think well-nigh information technology at all, is the best, safest fashion for the vast majority of Windows ten users.

Unfortunately, in contempo months we've seen Windows Updates cause problems on a small numberone of machines. The ability to disable Windows Update — even temporarily — can exist an important footstep in getting on with your work while yous look updated updates that no longer crusade problems.

Unfortunately, while Windows 10 Professional person has some control over when updates are installed, Windows 10 Home has no such option.

We need to bring out a bigger hammer.

The arroyo

The basic approach will be to stop the Windows Update service and and then disable information technology so it tin't be automatically started by subsequent automated update attempts.

Since this is intended to be a short-term solution — a "pause" in taking updates, if you lot volition — nosotros'll also re-enable the service to start it once over again.

Finally, it's important to realize that this is simply about Windows Update (also referred to as Microsoft Update, when all Microsoft applications are included), and non any other update mechanisms used by other programs. That means that while the service is disabled, y'all volition get no Microsoft-related updates: none for Windows, none for Windows Defender, none for Windows Defender'southward database of known malware, and none for any Microsoft products you may have installed. (Other programs will proceed to update in whatever fashion they've implemented.)

This is a big hammer. Yous'll want to leave things disabled for every bit short a time frame every bit y'all tin.

Disable and stop

Run either Windows PowerShell or Windows Command Prompt equally administrator. The easiest approach is to right-click on the Start card and then click on the corresponding app with the "(Admin)" clarification.

Windows Powershell Admin

In PowerShell or Command Prompt (which I'll just refer to every bit "Command Prompt" from hither), blazon the following control, followed past Enter:

sc.exe config wuauserv start= disabled

Breaking that down:

sc.exe – the "Service Control" direction plan. (The ".exe" part is important in PowerShell.2)
config – the action we're taking
wuauserv – the internal name of the "Windows Update Service" service.
start= – the configuration setting nosotros're changing. The infinite between this and the next particular is of import.
disabled – to set the start-up option of this service to the disabled state.

The outcome volition be a success message.

SC Service Startup Disable

All we've washed is so far is change whether the service is allowed to start. It's likely the service will still be running if information technology had already been started, then nosotros need to stop information technology. Enter the command:

sc.exe end wuauserv

This stops the Windows Update Service. You'll probable get a adequately disruptive success message.

SC Stop Service

Even though information technology states "STOP_PENDING", it's likely that the service has stopped completely past the fourth dimension you've finished reading the message.

Confirming it'due south off

We tin confirm that Windows Update is disabled by visiting the Updates section of the settings app and clicking on Cheque for updates. Information technology should fail.

Windows Update Failed

Your auto is no longer receiving Windows Updates.

Re-enable and re-get-go

To re-enable Windows Updates, reverse the process.

First, change the setting that will allow the service to be started:

sc.exe config wuauserv start= machine

This sets the startup setting to "auto", for automated, which allows the service to be started as needed.

To confirm this works, start the service:

sc.exe beginning wuauserv

Finally, render to Windows Update in the Settings app and click on Retry (if you'd left it from the prior examination) or Check for updates.

Windows Update - Checking

This time, Windows Update checks for updates. How many updates are available depends on how long you left it disabled.

Notwithstanding more than caveats (and piece of work-arounds)

I have heard, only accept not been able to verify, that a disabled Windows Update service tin magically become re-enabled after some period of time. It'due south unclear if this is days, weeks, or longer.

If y'all find yourself needing to do this frequently, one approach would be to put the disable and enable commands into their ain "batch" or command file.

For instance, create a simple text file in Notepad called disable-wu.cmd. In that file, put the two lines:

sc.exe config wuauserv start= disabled sc.exe stop wuauserv

Then run that batch file from within an admin Windows Control Prompt. Y'all'll probably too desire to have its analogue:

sc.exe config wuauserv starting time= auto sc.exe kickoff wuauserv

to be used when information technology'southward fourth dimension to re-enable the service.

But if you take to

As I said at the start, this is meant as a work-around only for those who need to stop Windows Update for a short period of time. Most folks shouldn't need this, and I advise against using information technology unless you know you do.

It's extremely unfortunate, for a variety of reasons, that we would need to resort to these steps. I do believe that Windows should expose controls for Windows Update at its old, Windows 7 level of granularity, allowing you lot to choose if and when to have updates and which updates to accept or ignore. I sympathise Microsoft's intent with the Windows 10 blueprint, just unfortunately, it only really works if we can always and completely trust Windows Updates without neglect. For some small number of people, that volition clearly never be the case.

Podcast audio

More than for Patrons of Inquire Leo!

Silver-level patrons have access to this related video from The Inquire Leo! Video Library.

Disabling Windows Update in Windows x Home

one: And I exercise mean pocket-sized number. Just because you hear a lot of lament doesn't hateful that a large number of machines accept been affected. The masses that have no problem have no reason to mutter, and then y'all won't hear from them.

2: If you're running Windows Command Prompt, you can go out off the ".exe". In Windows PowerShell, it's required to disambiguate from a PowerShell internal "sc" command.