Into Windows

  • Home
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 7
  • Privacy
You are here: Home » Windows 10 » How To Change Windows 10 Update Settings

How To Change Windows 10 Update Settings

Last Updated on April 18, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

RECOMMENDED: Download PC Repair tool to quickly find and fix Windows errors automatically
 

Early versions of Windows 10 did not offer any control over Windows Updates. After hearing user feedback, Microsoft has added a few options and settings to control Windows Updates in recent versions. That said, Windows 10 still does not give you full control over the Windows Update service.

In this guide, we will see how to change the default behavior of Windows Update in Windows 10.

Pause Windows Updates

Method 1 of 3

Pause updates for 7 days

Step 1: On the Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update page, click on the Pause updates for 7 days option to immediately stop getting updates for the next seven days.

change Windows 10 update settings pic1

If you want to receive updates before the end of 7 days, click on the Resume updates button present on the same page.

change Windows 10 update settings pic2

Method 2 of 3

Pause updates for up to 35 days

Step 1: On The Windows Update page, click Advanced options to open the advanced settings page.

Step 2: Scroll down the page to see the Pause updates section. Here, select a date until which you want to temporarily pause updates on your computer. Note that you cannot pause updates again after 35 days without installing the pending updates.

change Windows 10 update settings pic3

Method 3 of 3

Pause feature & quality updates

Microsoft churns out two feature updates in a year. If you want to delay a feature update, you can do so for a year. That is, you can defer a feature update for up to 365 days. However, quality updates can be deferred for up to 30 days only.

To do that:

Step 1: On the Windows Update page, click Advanced options.

Step 2: In the Choose when updates are installed section, you will see two options:

1. A feature update includes new capabilities and improvements. It can be deferred for this many days.

2. A quality update includes security improvements. It can be deferred for this many days.

To defer the feature update, in the box below the “A feature update includes new capabilities and improvements. It can be deferred for this many days”, select the number of days until which you want to defer the feature update. As said, you can delay a feature update for up to 365 days.

To delay a quality update, select the number of days from the drop-down box below the “A quality update includes security improvements. It can be deferred for this many days” option. Quality updates can be postponed for a maximum of 30 days.

change Windows 10 update settings pic4

Do not download updates over a metered connection

Windows 10 allows you to configure the Windows Update settings to prevent it from downloading updates when you are on a metered connection. Here is how to do that.

Step 1: Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced options.

Step 2: Turn off Download updates over metered connections.

NOTE: You first need to set a network as metered. Refer to our how to set a network as metered connection in Windows 10 guide for directions.

change Windows 10 update settings pic5

Limit Windows Update bandwidth

If you are on a relatively slow internet connection and want to limit how much bandwidth is used to download updates, you can do that as well.

Step 1: Go to Settings > Update & Security > Delivery Optimization page.

Step 2: Click the Advanced options link.

change Windows 10 update settings pic9

Step 3: In the Download settings section, select both Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the background and Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the foreground options.

Set the value by moving the slider. No need to restart or click any other button to save the changes.

change Windows 10 update settings pic10

You do not need to change or configure the Upload settings unless you have not turned on Allow downloads from other PCs option present on the Go to Settings > Update & Security > Delivery Optimization page.

Stop Windows Update from installing driver updates

With default settings, Windows 10 automatically downloads and updates device drivers. If you want to stop that, you can do that via the Registry.

Step 1: Type Regedit.exe in the Start/taskbar search and press the Enter key to open the Registry Editor.

Step 2: Go to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate

Step 3: On the right-side, right-click on an empty spot, click New, click DWORD (32-bit) Value and then name it as ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate.

Step 4: Finally, double-click on the newly created ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate value and set its value to 1 to stop Windows 10 from serving device drivers via Windows Update service.

change Windows 10 update settings pic6

View & Uninstall installed Windows Updates

Step 1: Navigate to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > View update history to view all recently installed feature and quality updates.

Step 2: To uninstall an update, click on the Uninstall update link located at the top of the page. This will open the classic Installed Updates window.

change Windows 10 update settings pic7

Step 3: Here, right-click on the update that you want to remove and then click the Uninstall option.

change Windows 10 update settings pic8

If you want to uninstall updates without booting into Windows 10, refer to our how to uninstall updates when your PC is not booting guide.

Filed Under: Windows 10 Tagged: Windows Update

Related Articles

  • How To Check & Install Updates In Windows 11
  • 4 Ways To Uninstall Windows Updates In Windows 11
  • 4 Ways To View Windows Update History In Windows 11
  • View Optional Updates Link Is Missing In Windows 10
  • How To Stop Windows 10 From Automatically Updating Drivers
  • Windows 10 October 2018 Update (Version 1809)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements

Search Into Windows

Recent posts

  • 3 Ways To Disable Automatic Driver Updates In Windows 11
  • How To Restore Personal Folders (Downloads & Documents) To Default Locations In Windows 10/11
  • How To Make Bing Search Default In Microsoft Edge
  • How To Hide Edge Sidebar On Windows 10/11 PC & Mac
  • How To Change Mouse Cursor/Pointer Color In Windows 10/11
  • How To Make Mouse Cursor/Pointer Bigger In Windows 10/11
  • What Is Windows 11 Moment 1 Update?
  • How To Upgrade To Windows 11 22H2
  • How To Install Gmail In Windows 10/11
  • How To Check If Windows 10 Is Activated

Advertisements

About us

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Into Windows