Pause Windows Update Hello. But, when it begins to download, it will find the already cached part and go forward to that point, and continue. Windows 10 automatically downloads updates in the background, which can be rough on slow or capped internet. Fortunately, there’s a way to pause downloads from the command line. As Into Windows.
- Feb 20, 2017 - Here's how to pause Windows 10 updates; use the information wisely. Open the Start Menu. Select Settings. Click Update & Security. Choose Advanced options under Windows Update. Toggle the Pause button to On.
- Open Windows Update. Click on Download button. If you are looking to download update simply follow the above steps and then restart the system to complete those updates. How to Pause Running Windows Update.
We all know that, whenever there is an update available, Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs the update in the background. If the update requires a reboot, Windows 10 automatically schedules the restart outside the active hours.
How To Pause Windows Update Downloading
With default settings, Windows 10 automatically checks for updates and downloads them when they are available. The problem with this default behaviour is that you might see webpages opening slowly while huge updates are being downloaded.
Users who have high speed internet connection might not experience this slow web browsing issue but users who are on slow internet connection often complain about this issue.
Would not it be handy if there was an option to pause Windows Update downloads? Would not it be good if there was an easy option to pause an ongoing Windows Update?
As of now, Windows 10 doesn’t offer a pause button or option under Windows Update settings but you can pause an ongoing Windows Update download by stopping Windows Update, background intelligent transfer and delivery optimization services.
Since there is no official way to pause Windows Update downloads, at times, Windows Update might begin downloading updates all over again by ignoring or deleting already or partially downloaded update files.
If for some reason, you want to pause Windows Update downloads for the time being or permanently, you can use the given below directions.
Important: We always recommend installing updates as and when they are available. Windows 10 gets fixes and new features via Windows Update and pausing or stopping Windows Update is not recommended unless you want to pause Windows Update for a short while.
Method 1 of 5
Pause Windows Updates via Setting app
IMPORTANT: This feature is available in Windows 10 build 14997 or later builds only.
Step 1:Open Settings app. Click Update & security. Click Windows Update.
Step 2: Under Update settings page, you should see Advanced options link. Click Advanced options link to open Advanced update settings page.
Step 3: Here, turn on Pause Updates to pause updates that are being downloaded. When you turn on Pause Updates, Windows 10 will pause currently available updates up to 35 days.
Method 2 of 5
Pause Windows Update downloads via Command Prompt
Step 1: Open Command Prompt as administrator. To do so, right-click on the Start button on the taskbar and click Command Prompt (Admin). Click Yes button when you see the User Account Control prompt.
Step 2: Type the following commands one after another and don’t forget to press Enter key after pressing each command.
net stop wuauserv
Might take a while to stop the Windows Update service.
net stop bits
Stops background intelligent transfer service.
net stop dosvc
Stops delivery optimization service.
Step 3: Windows Update should now pause.
Next
Resume Windows Update downloads
Step 1:Open Command Prompt with admin rights.
Step 2: Execute the following commands to start all stopped services and resume Windows Update downloads.
net start wuauserc
(press Enter key)
net start bits
(press Enter key)
net start dosvc
(press Enter key)
Step 3: Navigate to Settings app > Update & security > Windows Update. You should see Windows Update resuming downloads. If not, wait for a while.
If Windows Update is not checking for updates after resuming Windows Update, you might need to clear Windows Update cache to make Windows Update check for updates again and begin downloading available updates all over again.
Use the built-in Windows Update troubleshooter to address issues related to Windows Update.
Method 3 of 5
Make Windows 10 notify you before downloading updates
If you take control over Windows Update and want to stop Windows Update from automatically downloading available updates, you can do so with the help of Group Policy (requires Pro edition).
Step 1: Type Gpedit.msc in Start or taskbar search and press Enter key.
Step 2: Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.
Step 3: Double-click on Configure Automatic Updates.
Step 4: Choose Enabled and then choose Notify for download and notify for install. Click Apply.
Method 4 of 5
Turn on metered connection
Since Windows 10 doesn’t download updates when on metered network, you could set your current network as metered to pause Windows Update downloads. Navigate to Settings app > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi, click on current Wi-Fi network and then turn on Set as metered connection.
Method 5 of 5
Turn on Airplane mode
The other option is to quickly turn on Airplane mode. Turning on Airplane mode turns off all wireless communications. This might not work for users using wired connections.
Enjoy Windows 10!
Don’t forget to check our how to postpone or delay Windows Updates in Windows 10 guide.
I'm on a slow dial-up connection, and my Windows 8 is downloading some critical updates. The connection keeps disconnecting, so I was thinking if it was possible to pause the updates download?
Peter Mortensen7 Answers
As far as I'm aware there is no way to pause an in-progress Windows Update download. Most sites I checked on Google agree.
I would say while disconnected from the internet, turn off Windows updates until you're on a faster connection. I haven't used Windows 8 yet, but on Windows 7 (should be similar to 8 unless I'm totally mistaken) it is in Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update (or just type this into your explorer bar: Control PanelSystem and SecurityWindows Update). On the left choose Change Settings and turn them off for now.
It turns out that you can stop the windows update service manually, if you have Administrator privileges.
Open a cmd
prompt as Admin (right click the .exe and choose Run as Administrator), and type
You can start it again with
As suggested by @arolpx, I had a look and stopping the Background Intelligent Transfer Services (BITS) manually will ensure that Windows Update cannot transfer anything.
From the linked source:
If the service is disabled, then any applications that depend on BITS, such as Windows Update or MSN Explorer, will be unable to automatically download programs and other information.
Sources:
Since Windows 10 (at least, possibly earlier) the answer by Alex doesn't stop all Windows update downloads anymore, because much of the downloading responsibility has moved to other services.
Stopping these three services, however, seems to work in Windows 10:
That stops the windows update service, the background intelligent transfer service, and the delivery optimization service, respectively. All of these are involved in Windows update downloads.
Note: usually one or of the above will services fail to stop, with a message like The Windows Update service could not be stopped.
. Running the commands a second time will usually result in a successful stop.
You can, of course, also stop these from the GUI in services.msc.
This is a GUI based version of the answer by Alex:
- Start the Task Manager (you can right click on the task bar)
- Go to the tab Services
- Locate the service, Name: wuauserv, Description: Windows Update, Group: netsvcs.
- Right click on it, Stop.
I think the easiest way is to stop its process from Task Manager.
- Open Task Manager (by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right click on taskbarand start task manager).
- Go to Process tab then find out Windows Update process.
- Manually end the process (select the process and press Del or click End Process button).
In a nutshell
You need to stop these 2 or 3 services: 'Windows Update', 'Background Intelligent Transfer' and (for Windows 10 only) 'Delivery Optimization'
Please retry once or twice if stopping any of them fails
The CLI Commands
net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
:: The next one is only for Windows 10
net stop dosvc
If you get errors
Once again if you get an error like 'The service could not be stopped' you should retry a couple of times. If it still fails you may want to disable the service (don't forget to re-enable it) and then kill the related processes. Note that Windows should handle such abrupt interruptions gracefully (after all power losses are much worse and happen all the time) but if you are paranoid about your system's stability you may wish to avoid the 'murder'. Anyway I would also take a look at my installation because a healthy system should honor the stop request.
If you issue the net stop commands and get an error like 'Invalid service name' you've made a spelling error (or you're trying to stop dosvc on Windows 7 or 8 -- don't bother this service exists only on Windows 10)
Windows key > type SERVICES.MSC and press ENTER. Scroll down the list and double-click on WINDOWS UPDATE >change Startup type to Disabled >APPLY > OK.
protected by bwDracoJul 18 '15 at 17:19
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