Disable Pause Updates using Intune | Group Policy (GPO)
In this article, we will show you how to disable Pause Updates using Intune and Group Policy. You can block the “Pause Updates” ability on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices with a GPO or Intune Policy to prevent users from pausing the updates.
Sometimes Windows updates cause so many problems that you just want to turn them off. Despite the fact that Microsoft updates are essential for Windows PCs, not all users install them on a regular basis. You can disable the Pause Updates feature on your Windows PC to prevent users from delaying updates.
Windows 10 and 11 Home and Pro users can pause the minor updates on their PC by themselves from Windows Update settings. On Windows PC, you can pause updates for a total offive timesto delay the updates for 35 days. You can delay quality updates a week at a time for up to 35 days.
Organizations that useWSUS,Configuration Manageror Intune to manage Windows updates can use the methods described in this article to restrict access to pause updates feature on Windows devices.
Also Read:Manage Windows Driver Updates with Intune: A Complete Guide
What is Pause Updates Feature in Windows 10 and Windows 11?
You can disable Automatic Updates installation on Windows 11 and Windows 10 by using the Pause Updates feature. With Pause Updates feature activated, your PC will not check for the new updates nor install them until you manually resume updates for installation.
Updates download and install automatically on Windows 10 and Windows 11 to help keep your device and data secure and to ensure you have the most recent improvements and bug fixes. However, it is common for updates to be released with flaws that degrade the user experience.
暂停更新和永久禁用automatic updates are two entirely different things. Pausing the updates allows you to temporarily halt the installation of automatic updates (1 Week to 5 Weeks). Disabling automatic updates ensures that no updates are downloaded and installed on your Windows PC, putting the PC at risk of security breaches. You can disable updates permanently by configuring the automatic updates policy via Group Policy.
Although Microsoft does not allow you to completely disable automatic updates on Windows, you can temporarily pause updates for one week. Anyone can quickly pause updates with a few clicks under Windows Update settings. It’s important to note that this doesn’t disable updates altogether, it just postpones them.
Related:Turn off Windows Presentation Settings using Intune | GPO
Ways to Pause Updates on Windows PCs
The Pause Updates feature is available for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users. There are multiple ways to disable the “Pause Updates” feature on your Windows PC, and they are listed below.
- Manually pause the updates on your PC via Windows Update settings.
- Using the Intune Policy to disable the Pause Updates feature.
- A Group Policy (GPO) that can be used to block the Pause Updates feature for users.
- Restrict Pause Updates ability using the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Registry tweak that will remove access to the pause update button for users.
We will demonstrate all of the above methods to block the Pause Updates feature except the registry method. We personally do not recommend the registry method because it is unsafe and difficult for home users to use.
Related:4 Ways to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement in Windows 11
How do I Pause Updates on Windows PC?
Anyone who wants to postpone the installation of updates on their Windows 10/11 PC can do so by following the steps below.
- Open the Settings app on your PC.
- SelectWindows Updatefrom the sidebar.
- Next toPause updates, click Pause for 1 week or open the drop-down menu to pause updates for up to five weeks. You can increase the time in one-week increments.
When you pause the updates on your Windows PC, theCheck for Updatesbutton isn’t available. You only see theResume Updatesbutton. Your device won’t be up-to-date until updates resume.
Method 1: Disable Pause Updates using Group Policy
On Windows devices, you can deploy a group policy to block the pause updates feature. When your organization does not use Microsoft Intune and computers are active directory domain joined, this method is preferred.
If you are planning to manually block the pause updates feature on a few Windows devices, you can use theLocal Group Policy Editor. To perform the same configuration changes on multiple Windows devices joined to the AD domain, you must create a GPO and deploy it to your endpoints.
Note that the Local Group Policy Editor is available only onWindows Proand Enterprise editions. Windows 10 Home edition users don’t have access to the GP Editor on their computer. Learn how toupgrade Windows 11 Home edition to Windows 11 Pro.
Using Local Group Policy Editor to turn off access to Pause Updates feature
If you’re running Windows 10 /11 Pro, Enterprise, the easiest way to remove access to the “Pause Updates” feature is to use the Local Group Policy Editor with these steps:
- Right-clickStartand selectRun.
- In the Run box, enter the commandgpedit.mscand clickOKto open the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Go to the following path:Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Windows Update.
- On the right side, double-click the policy settingRemove access to “Pause updates” featureand selectEnabled.
This setting allows you to remove access to the “Pause Updates” feature. Once enabled, user access to pause updates is removed. ClickApplyandOK.
Create a GPO to Disable Pause Updates feature
To create a new GPO, you can either log in to a domain controller or a member server installed with GPMC. You can alsoinstall the GPMC on Windows 11and configure the group policies.
- LaunchServer Manager from the Start menu and select Tools > Group Policy Management Console.
- In the Group Policy Management console, expand the domain, right-clickGroup Policy Objectsor anOU, and selectNew.
- Enter the name for the group policy, such as “Disable Pause Updates Feature” and clickOK.
Right-click the GPO that you just created and selectEdit. In theGroup Policy Management Editor, navigate toComputer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update. Here, look for the policy setting “Remove access to Pause Updates feature“, right-click the policy setting and selectEdit.
From the policy description, we see that this policy setting removes access to Pause Updates feature. Enable this policy setting by choosing the option “Enabled” and clicking “Apply” and “OK.”
After the group policy object is configured, you need to link the GPO to an OU if you haven’t already. You can also link it to the domain, but doing so will make the GPO applicable to every computer in the domain, so it is not advised. The best approach is to choose a test OU, connect your GPO, and test the policy settings.
It’s time toupdate the group policyon the client computers and check to see if the access to pause updates feature is removed. You can use multiple ways toperform the group policy update on remote computers. On a test client machine, you can manually perform the group policy update by running thegpupdate /forcecommand.
After the group policy has been refreshed, go toSettings>Windows Updateon your Windows devices, and now you’ll see that users cannot pause the updates because it’s greyed out. This confirms that the GPO that we deployed was successful in disabling the pause updates ability.
Method 2: Disable Pause Updates Feature using Intune Policy
Perform the following steps to create a new configuration profile in Microsoft Intune to restrict pause updates feature for Windows devices. First sign-in to theMicrosoft Intune Admin center. SelectDevices>Policy>Configuration Profiles>Create Profile.
On theCreate a profilewindow, configure the following settings and selectCreate.
- Platform: Windows 10 and later
- Profile Type: Settings Catalog
In theBasicstab, enter the following properties.
- Name: Enter a descriptive name for the profile, which you can easily identify them later. For example, a good profile name isDisable Pause Updates Feature.
- Description: Enter a brief description of the profile. This setting is optional, but recommended. For example, you can enter the following description for the profile “Blocks or Restricts access to Pause Updates feature on Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.”
ClickNext.
In theConfiguration Settingssection, underSettings Catalog, clickAdd Settings. TheSettings catalog in Intuneallows managingWindows Updates for Business settings. You can choose to allow or block access to pause updates feature and deploy the policy to devices or users.
On theSettings pickerwindow, type “Pause Updates” in the search box and clickSearch. From the search results, click on theWindows Update For Businesscategory and select the settingBlock “Pause Updates” ability. Close the Settings Picker panel.
TheBlock “Pause Updates” ability政策Intune允许管理员禁用the Pause Updates feature. When this policy is enabled, the user cannot access the Pause updates feature. The value type is an integer. The default is 0. Supported values 0, 1.
As we want users to prevent pausing the updates on their computer, for the settingBlock “Pause Updates” ability, turn the slider toBlock. ClickNext.
In Intune,Scope tagsdetermine which objects admins can see. In theScope tagssection, you specify scope tags. Specifying scope tags is optional and you may skip this step. ClickNext.
In theAssignmentswindow, specify the groups to which you want to apply this policy. I advise deploying the profile for a few test groups first, and then rolling it out to more groups if the testing is successful. SelectNext.
On theReview + Createpage, review all the settings that you have defined to block the pause updates feature via Intune and selectCreate.
After you create a configuration policy in Intune, a notification appears, “Policy created successfully“. This confirms the policy is created and is being applied to groups that we selected. The new profile that we created to disable access to pause updates feature appears under the list of Configuration Profiles in Intune.
You must wait for the policy to apply to the targeted groups and once the devices check-in with the Intune service they will receive your profile settings. You can alsoforce sync Intune policieson your computers.
To monitor the deployment, select the policy and review theDevice and user check-in status. From the screenshot below, we see the policy that we applied to disable pause updates feature on Windows devices has been successfully received by devices.
End-User Experience after Restricting Access to Pause Updates Feature
Let’s check if the Pause Updates feature is disabled using Intune Policy that applied to our devices and what users see when they launch Windows Update. From the screenshot below, we see the Pause Updates option has been greyed out, and the user cannot use it anymore to delay installing the updates. It shows this setting isn’t available due to your organization policy.
