How to Disable Windows 10 Update Notifications

Windows 10 constantly reminds you to install updates, often interrupting your work with pop-ups and restart prompts. This guide shows you how to turn off those “Updates are available” notifications and control when updates install, so you can work without interruptions. You’ll need a Windows 10 PC with administrator access, and you’ll be using the Settings app and the Group Policy Editor (available on Pro and Enterprise editions).

What You’ll Need

Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education (Group Policy Editor is not in Home edition).
Administrator account access.
About 10 minutes of time.

Step-by-Step

Open the Group Policy Editor: Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter. If you’re on Windows 10 Home, skip to the Registry method in the Tips section.
Navigate to Windows Update policies: In the left pane, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business.
Manage preview builds: Double-click “Manage preview builds”. Set it to Enabled, then under “Options” choose “Disable preview builds”. Click OK. This stops Windows from notifying you about preview or insider builds.
Configure automatic updates: Go back to the Windows Update folder (one level up). Double-click “Configure Automatic Updates”.
Set to Notify for download: Choose Enabled, then under “Configure automatic updating” select “2 – Notify for download and auto install”. This still shows a notification, but it won’t download or install without your permission. For a more aggressive approach, select “3 – Auto download and notify for install” or “5 – Allow local admin to choose setting” and then set the behavior in Settings.
Disable restart notifications: Still in the same folder, double-click “No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations”. Set it to Enabled, then click OK. This prevents Windows from restarting your PC while you’re logged in.
Defer feature updates (optional): In the Windows Update for Business folder, double-click “Select when Preview Builds and Feature Updates are received”. Set it to Enabled, then set the “Windows Ready for device” to 365 days. This delays feature updates for up to a year, so you won’t get the “Updates are available” prompt for new versions.
Apply and close: Click OK on all open windows, then restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong policy path: The “Configure Automatic Updates” policy is under Windows Update, not Windows Update for Business. Mixing them up leads to confusion.
Setting to “Disabled” instead of “Enabled”: Disabling the policy actually reverts to default behavior (auto-update). You must enable the policy and then choose the desired option.
Forgetting to disable restart: Even if you set notifications to “Notify”, Windows may still restart if you don’t also enable the “No auto-restart” policy.
Not checking for Home edition: Group Policy Editor doesn’t exist in Windows 10 Home. If you try to run gpedit.msc, you’ll get an error. Use the registry method instead.

Tips

For Windows 10 Home users: Open Registry Editor (regedit). Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU. Create a DWORD (32-bit) named NoAutoUpdate and set its value to 1. Then create another DWORD named AUOptions and set it to 2 (notify before download). Restart your PC.
Use Active Hours: In Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Change active hours, set a time range when you’re typically using your PC. Windows won’t restart during those hours, reducing interruptions.
Pause updates temporarily: In Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, you can click “Pause updates for 7 days”. This stops update notifications for a week, but you’ll need to repeat it regularly.
Set metered connection: If you’re on Wi-Fi, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > your network > Properties, and turn on “Set as metered connection”. Windows will not download updates automatically on metered connections, but you’ll still get notifications that updates are available.

Troubleshooting

Policy changes don’t take effect: Make sure you’ve restarted your PC. If it still doesn’t work, run gpupdate /force in Command Prompt (as administrator) to force a policy refresh.
You’re still getting notifications: Check that you didn’t accidentally set “Configure Automatic Updates” to “Disabled”. Also, some notifications come from the Windows Update service itself, not the policy. Try stopping the service: Open Services (services.msc), find “Windows Update”, right-click, and select “Stop”. Set its startup type to “Disabled”. This completely stops Windows Update, but also prevents you from manually checking for updates later.
Group Policy Editor won’t open: If you’re on Home edition, it won’t. Use the registry method. If you’re on Pro and it still won’t open, ensure you’re logged in as an administrator.
Windows Update service won’t stop: Sometimes the service is protected. Try stopping it from Safe Mode or use the registry to disable it (set Start value to 4 under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv).

Frequently Asked Questions

Will disabling updates affect security?

Yes. Updates include security patches. Disabling them entirely leaves your PC vulnerable. The methods above only stop notifications and automatic restarts, but you should still manually check for updates regularly.

Can I still manually install updates after disabling notifications?

Yes. You can always go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click “Check for updates”. The policies only affect automatic behavior, not manual checks.

Why do I still see “Updates are available” after following the steps?

Make sure you’ve enabled the “Configure Automatic Updates” policy and selected “Notify for download”. Also, check that you’re in the correct policy folder. If you’re using the registry method, verify the AUOptions value is set to 2.

Does this work on Windows 11?

The steps are similar, but Windows 11 has different settings. This guide is specifically for Windows 10. On Windows 11, you can pause updates for up to 5 weeks in Settings.

Will this prevent driver updates?

No. Driver updates are often delivered separately via Windows Update. To stop driver updates, you need to use the “Device Installation Settings” in System Properties and choose “No” to automatic driver downloads.

Is it safe to disable the Windows Update service?

It’s not recommended. Disabling the service can break other components like Microsoft Store and Defender. If you must, you can re-enable it later by setting the startup type back to “Automatic”.

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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