Where in the Windows Update Settings can an administrator defer feature updates?

Whether you're still on Windows 10 or recently upgraded to Windows 11, Microsoft gives you yearly updates and monthly security patches. (Check out release information for Windows 10(Opens in a new window) and Windows 11(Opens in a new window).) This schedule ensures you get new features and functionality while also keeping your computer safe.

Unfortunately, major updates can also break things. In the past, Microsoft would force updates upon you, whether you were ready for them or not. Since 2019, these updates are no longer pushed as strongly as they once were. Instead of automatically installing big feature updates, you'll see an option in the Windows Update settings to download the update at your leisure.

So if you'd rather wait until new features have been properly tested or bugs fixed, you can delay pending updates. How long you can push back the update comes down to which version of Windows you have running. Still, once the OS version you're currently running nears the end of support, you will need to upgrade.

Pause Updates for 7 Days

You have a few options for delaying updates big and small. The most basic way to delay any updates is to place a seven-day pause on them, which you can do from Settings. Windows 10 users should open to Update & Security > Windows Update, while Windows 11 will let you open directly to Windows Update.

If you're not yet ready to update your machine, click the Pause updates for 7 days button (it says Pause for 1 week in Windows 11). This will change the Check for updates button to Resume updates. Windows will also display when updates will resume again.

Pause Updates for Up to 35 Days

You can pause updates for up to 35 days in both versions of the OS. In Windows 10, click Pause updates for 7 days up to five times for a total of 35 days. Windows 11 users can click the drop-down menu next to the Pause for 1 week button and select how many weeks (up to five weeks) updates should be paused.

Windows 10 users can also click Advanced Options and pause updates until a specific date. Open the Select date drop-down menu under Pause Updates and select a date within 35 days of the current date. Keep in mind that you can only pause updates past seven days if you are not signed up for the Windows Insider program.

Change Active Hours

Instead of pausing updates, you may simply need to tell Windows when it should install updates by changing your active hours. In Windows 10, open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click Change active hours to set when updates should not be installed.

You have the option to let Windows adjust active hours automatically based on your specific activity. Otherwise click Change to set a custom start time and end time.

Windows 11 users can go to Windows Update > Advanced options and open the Active hours drop-down. Set Adjust active hours to Automatically to change active hours based on your specific activity. Set it to Manually to set a custom start and end time.

Once active hours are set, no updates will be installed during that time so as not to disturb you. Of course, updates will still be installed after hours, so this is more for convenience rather than a solution to any performance issues you may experience.

Delay Updates for 365 Days

Those with Windows 10 or 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education have a deferral feature that lets you delay all updates for up to 365 days after they're released. This allows businesses to test major feature updates on a few machines before rolling it out to the rest of the company.

However, it has been hidden away where typical users won’t find it. Open the Start menu, type “group,” and click Edit Group Policy to open the Local Group Policy Editor. In the left sidebar, head to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business.

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For the purposes of this guide, you’ll want to concern yourself with two of the options here: Select When Preview Builds and Feature Updates Are Received and Select When Quality Updates Are Received.

Preview Builds and Feature Updates are those big version changes, while Quality Updates are the smaller security patches you get more regularly. We don't recommend delaying Quality Updates. But you can delay feature updates up to 365 days by double-clicking the relevant option, setting it to Enabled, and changing the number of days in the Options box.

You can also go back to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update in the Local Group Policy Editor and open Configure Automatic Updates. In the new window, click Enabled, then select the Configure automatic updating drop-down menu and choose Notify for download and auto install.

This ensures Windows will notify you before downloading and installing updates rather than doing so automatically. Just be sure you actually download those security updates in a timely manner.

Of course, the longer you defer updates, the longer you'll miss out on new features, so this is best used for those mission-critical machines you can't afford to lose. You can then test the update on a secondary machine, if you have one, to see if it's stable enough for your daily work, and update your other computers accordingly.

If you ever do install an update, and it messes up something on your computer, there are a few ways Windows allows you to roll things back until a fix is issued.

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