How to Stop Windows 11 Update Once And for All?

Although Windows 11 has been released for a while, some users still want to keep their Windows 10. And some people who have installed Windows 11 but the C drive has a low capacity warning wish to stop Windows 11 update.

No matter which situation you’ve met that makes you decide to stop Windows 11 update, the point is how to safely disable it.

How to stop Windows 11 update?

In this part, we’ll show 4 ways to stop Windows 11 auto-update and offer you more methods to improve your PC performance.

Way 1. Stop Windows 11 update with registry

Step 1. Press “Windows” + “R” and type “regedit” to open Registry Editor.

Step 2. Follow the path to navigate to the “Windows” folder:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Step 3. Right-click Windows folder and select “New” > “Key”, and name it as “WindowsUpdate”.

Step 4. Right-click “WindowsUpdate” and click “New” to create a new key as “AU”.

Step 5. Right-click on the blank area, choose “New” > “DWORD (32-bit) Value”.

Step 6. Type “NoAutoUpdate” in the Value name box, and change the value date from 0 to 1, then click “OK”.

Step 7. Close the Registry Editor window, and reboot your computer.

Way 2. Block Windows 11 update via Group Policy

Step 1. Press “Windows” + “R”, type gpedit.msc, hit “Enter” to open Group Policy.

Step 2. Follow the path to locate the “Windows Update for Business” folder.

Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business.

Step 3. Double click “Select the target feature update version”.

Step 4. Set the policy to “Enable”.

Step 5. Type “21H1” under the “Options”.

Step 6. Close all windows to exit.

Way 3. Pause Windows 11 update for 7 days

Step 1. Open the “Start” menu and click “Settings”.

Step 2. Click “Update & “Security”, then click “Pause updates for 7more days”.

Way 4. Turn off update in Services

Step 1. Press “Windows” + “R” and type “services.msc”.

Step 2. Find and click “Windows Update” to open Windows Update Properties.

Step 3. Click “Startup type”, select “Disable”, then click “OK” to save the change and close all windows to exit.

Further reading: Prevent data loss during Windows update

If you're worrying about unexpected data loss during Windows data loss, then we suggest you prepare a data recovery tool or make a data backup before you start to update the system.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is an all-around disk/partition manager for Windows users. This powerful software supports Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista, and its Server edition is designed for Server 2025/2022/2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2)/2003(R2) users.

With this tool, users can easily protect their computers. Here, we’ll take "Data recover" and “Disk Clone” as two examples.

1. Recover lost data 

Step 1. Open and run the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant. Find "Recover" > “Recover Data” in the main interface.

Step 2. Select the partition location in the pop-up window, and then click “Start Scan”

Step 3. After scanning, you can find that all the deleted files, recycle bin and other lost data show up. Choose the target data, and click “Recover”.

Step 4. Select the folder path to reserve the restored data.

Step 5. Wait for the process patiently till it shows the Completion icon. Now, you can find that the selected files have been recovered successfully.

2. Clone disk for backup

Step 1. Download this computer operating system clone software, then install and open it. In “Clone”, select “Clone Disk”.

Step 2. Here, choose a suitable method based on the differences mentioned above (choose the first method as an example).

Step 3. Select the disk where the cloned file is located (take Disk 1 as an example).

Step 4. Here, select the target disk you plan to clone to.(take Disk 2 as an example). If your target disk is an SSD, you can check “Optimize the performance of SSD”.  The purpose of this is to improve the SSD read and write speed.

Step 5. In this step, you can adjust the size of the target disk partition. If it is cloned to a smaller hard drive, then the first item is not selectable.

Step 6. You can preview all operations this time in this window. Click “Apply” to submit for execution.

Final words

Hope this guide can help you stop Windows 11 update. And you can try more practical methods of AOMEI Partition Assistant to be a professional disk manager of your devices. If you have needs, the Tech edition will give you more supports to help you.

FAQs about Windows 11 update/upgrade

How can I check for updates in Windows 11?
To check for updates in Windows 11, you can go to "Settings" > "Windows Update." From there, you can click "Check for updates" to see if there are any available updates for your system.

Are Windows 11 updates mandatory?
While many Windows 11 updates are important for security and performance reasons, they are generally not mandatory. You can choose when to install updates, although it's recommended to keep your system up to date for security and stability.

What should I do before installing Windows 11 updates?
Before installing updates, it's a good practice to back up your important data to prevent data loss in case of any issues during the update process. You should also save your work and close open applications to ensure a smooth update.

What do I do if a Windows 11 update fails to install?
If a Windows 11 update fails to install, you can try troubleshooting steps like running the Windows Update Troubleshooter or manually downloading and installing the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog. If the issue persists, you may seek assistance from Microsoft support.

Can I pause or defer Windows 11 updates?
Yes, Windows 11 allows you to pause updates for a certain period. Depending on your Windows edition, you may also have options to defer updates for a longer time. However, it's important not to defer security updates for too long to keep your system protected.