Overview

This article provides information on how to disable Windows Update Automatic Downloads on Windows 10 machines.

Solution

The Windows Update service has to be enabled for the GFI LanGuard to function correctly. Yet on Windows 10 machines, automatic Microsoft updates can cause unexpected issues and users often want to block automatic downloads and instead use LanGuard to enforce patch management.

The process of disabling Windows 10 automatic updates is not straightforward since the option is hidden. For the Windows 10 Professional, Enterprise, or Education edition, you can still turn off the automatic updates feature via the Group Policy by following the steps provided below.

The option to turn off automatic updates is not present in the Windows 10 Home edition. 

1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows (  ) + R keys. Type gpedit.msc and press the OK button to open the Local Group Policy Editor:

   

2. From the Local Group Policy Editor's left pane, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update:

   

3. Locate and double-click the Configure Automatic Updates option:

   

4. In the resulting dialog box, select the Disabled radio button and click the OK button: