While you can always turn off or disable Automatic Windows Updates on Windows 11/10 using the Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor, or pause Windows Updates for some days via Settings, if you are looking for free software that will help you stop or block automatic Windows 11/10 Updates, then you have come to the right place.
Incidentally, Microsoft also offers a tool called Show or Hide Updates that allows users to hide or block specific unwanted Windows Updates. Using it, you can stop Windows 10 from downloading specific updates.
Now, while we do not recommend stopping Windows Updates, if you are looking for a way to manage them, then read on.
Windows 11/10 Update Blocker tools
Here is a list of 9 free tools that can help you block or stop Automatic Windows 11/10 Updates on your computer. These Windows 10 Update Blocker tools will help you control, manage, disable, and prevent automatic Windows Updates on your Windows 11/10 computer easily.
- Windows Update Blocker
- StopUpdates10
- Wu10Man
- Kill-Update
- WuMgr
- Win Updates Disabler
- WAU Manager
- GRC InControl
- Win Update Stop.
Let us take a look at them in detail.
1] Windows Update Blocker
Windows Update Blocker lets you control Windows Updates & lets you disable Windows Update Medic Service (WaaSMedicSVC) as well. This tool is completely portable. All you have to do is to download the zip file of less than 800KB, unzip it, and start using the tool.
The User Interface is simple to use and does not require tedious understanding. As you can see above, the UI has 2 radio buttons for you to set the Windows Update Service to “Enable Service” or “Disable Service” or you can select Protect the system’s service settings.
2] StopUpdates10
StopUpdates10 makes it a lot simpler for its users to disable & block updates on Windows. With a click of a button, you can completely disable updates without breaking anything. The program performs a set of tasks in the background which ensures that Windows should not be able to download updates from the server.
It can also stop forced upgrades and all update notifications so that you can focus more on your work and less on the updates. The main motive of the tool is not to completely disable updates (it is not recommended as well), but to provide you with an option to block them temporarily. Accordingly, StopUpdates10 also offers a quick Restore button that can bring your computer back to the original state where Updates are allowed. The restore button comes very handy when you are on a better internet connection and decide to update.
3] Wu10Man
Using Wu10Man is pretty easy. It doesn’t need much learning. It helps you with Configuring group policy, Disabling services, Blocking URLs, and Pausing Windows Updates.
You will need administrator access to run this application, as you be writing to the Registry, altering Services, and changing the Hosts file. But once you have such access, you can stop automatic updates on your system through any of the following options:
4] Kill-Update
Kill-Update is loaded as soon as the user logs in the system. The program scans every 10 seconds for the Windows update service patches and packs. If the update services are available, the Kill-Update program automatically disables the update service. The users can prevent the Windows system from upgrading with the help of this application and can even manually disable the application program whenever your system is free and ready for an upgrade.
5] WuMgr
WuMgr or Update Manager for Windows is a free and open-source tool based on Windows Update Agent API that lets you find and install missing updates on your computer.
It is an all in one Windows Update Utility. It lets you control update settings and manually install available updates. It is easy to use and understand and gives you more control over the entire Windows Update configuration.
6] Win Updates Disabler
Win Updates Disabler is another free tool that helps you to completely disable or enable Automatic Updates on your Windows 10 system. Moreover, it can help to disable or enable Windows Defender, Windows Security Center, and Windows Firewall. A portable version is also available.
7] WAU Manager
WAU Manager WAU manager is a free Windows Automatic Updates Manager software to stop, postpone, manage, hide, unhide, install, uninstall Windows Update in Windows 11/10. This Windows Update manager offers granular control to manage updates.
8] GRC InControl
InControl is a tool that will let you install only Security Updates and block all Non-security Updates. In short, your Windows version will remain where it is. No new Non-security Updates, Feature Updates, or Version Updates will be downloaded or installed.
9] Win Update Stop
Win Update Stop (This one is now no longer free) offers an easy way out in disabling updates on any Windows. You need not go to settings or registry and do that manually. Just a click of a button and the updates will be permanently stopped on your computer. And you can turn them on whenever you feel like. Not just Windows 11/10, Win Update Stop supports all versions of Windows including Windows 8 and Windows 7. So on whatever version you are, you can stop all sorts of updates using this tool.
Win Update Stop comes with a minimalistic UI. It just displays the status of updates followed by two buttons to enable and disable the updates. There is also an option that reads ‘Check for Windows Updates’. Clicking this option will take you to the ‘Updates’ section in Settings where you can manually check for any available updates.
Related read: List of some of the best Free Software Downloads for Windows.
