How to handle Windows 10 and 11 updates Step by Step

How to handle Windows 10 and 11 updates: In this article, you will learn about How to handle Windows 10 and 11 updates step by step. So without much to do, let’s get started.

Confused about how Windows 10 and Windows 11 upgrades operate? Rejoin the group. Microsoft has made various adjustments to Windows Update over the years, including how frequently significant Windows updates are delivered and which customers can postpone updates. There are numerous misconceptions about how Windows Update currently operates and how to utilize it to its fullest potential as a result.

This post is intended to help you understand the situation better. We’ve dug deep into Windows Update to find the answers to the most often asked issues from users, including whether you have to accept every update, if you can remove already installed updates, and how to lessen the bandwidth usage of particular updates. As an added bonus, we’ve provided information on how to discontinue receiving updates altogether.

This article has been updated to include Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 22H2 as of today. If you have an earlier version of Windows 10 or 11, the features mentioned here and the screenshots you see might not match what you actually see. Although there are some small visual, menu, and other variations between Windows 11 and Windows 10, Windows Update functions the same in both operating systems. We’ll go into more depth about these differences below.

In this article, you will learn-

1 [How to preview and roll out updates for Windows 10 and 11]
2 Not every update is made equally.
3 Windows 11 feature updates can be delayed or skipped.
4 Pause Windows 10 and 11 quality updates
5 You may choose when Windows updates happen.
6 Control the Windows 10 update window times
7 Control the Windows 11 update window times
8 READ NEXT

[How to preview and roll out updates for Windows 10 and 11]

Not every update is made equally.

There are updates and then there are updates, such as Windows 11 22H2 in Microsoft-speak. These significant enhancements—each with its own version numbers—are referred to as feature updates by Microsoft. Microsoft used to distinguish its products by using the terms “upgrades” and “updates,” but the word “upgrade” appears to have vanished from its vocabulary over time.

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Microsoft also regularly provides smaller upgrades called quality updates that, like earlier versions, patch security flaws, eliminate bugs, and generally make minor improvements to Windows. On Patch Tuesday, the second Tuesday of each month, as well as other occasions, they are provided. (There are a few other kinds of small adjustments as well, which we’ll go into more depth about later in the article.)

However, feature updates “install the latest new features, experiences and capabilities” of Windows, in contrast to upgrades from the past, according to Microsoft. Windows 10 received its initial feature upgrade in November 2015 and its second in August 2016. Following that, Microsoft released two feature updates annually, roughly six months apart — one in the spring and one in the fall.
The November 2019 Update (version 1909) brought forth some slight changes, though. That version was more akin to what Microsoft formerly referred to as a “service pack,” with few new features.

numerous minor adjustments and fixes. Microsoft maintained this schedule for the following few years, providing two upgrades—one larger in the spring and one smaller in the fall—while still referring to them as “feature updates.”
Things have changed once more since then. One feature update for Windows 11 is released yearly, always in the fall. Microsoft has stated there won’t be any more feature updates for Windows 10 after version 22H2. However, Windows 10 will continue to get frequent, lesser-quality upgrades until the operating system’s end of support in October 2025.

Using enterprise-level tools like Windows Update for Business, Windows Server Update Services, or System Center Configuration Manager, your IT department probably decides when feature and quality updates are released to Windows 10 or 11 users who work for large businesses or educational institutions. You can postpone feature updates yourself if you use Windows 11 Home or Pro in an unmanaged environment. Additionally, if you use Windows 10 or Windows 11’s Home or Pro edition, you can put off receiving quality updates.

Windows 11 feature updates can be delayed or skipped.

The following describes how Windows 11 delays feature updates: When a new feature update is made available, Windows tells you with a message and a “Download and install” link in the Windows Update pane of the Settings app rather than automatically installing it on your computer.
Select Start > Settings > Windows Update to access the pane. If you see the “Download and install” link and decide not to apply the update, disregard the warning; your computer will remain unaltered. Click the link and follow the directions to install an update whenever you feel like it.

But there is one condition. Windows Update will install a more recent feature update regardless of whether you agree with it when your current version of Windows reaches what Microsoft refers to as “end of service” – the point at which Microsoft no longer supports it. That is 24 months after the release of your current Windows version for Windows 11 Home and Pro users.

However, it is theoretically feasible to completely exclude some feature upgrades. Since they are issued annually, you might opt to install one version, forego installing the following one, and then install the version after that.
We can assist if you’re having issues with Windows Update, such as when a certain update won’t download or when an update fails to install.

Pause Windows 10 and 11 quality updates

Users of Windows 10 and 11 Home and Professional editions can postpone the incremental upgrades that Microsoft releases in between the major yearly feature updates for up to 35 days. These high-quality updates, which address security vulnerabilities, bug fixes, and other issues, are often identified in Windows Update as “Security Update” or “Cumulative Update,” as was previously described. It’s a good idea to wait a time before installing them to see whether any issues are noticed, even though they are intended to strengthen Windows’ security or help it work more smoothly.

You must halt these updates in order to stop that from happening because, unlike feature updates, they are set to install automatically by default. To take a weekly break from updating

days. Go to Settings > Windows Update on Windows 11 and select Pause for 1 Week next to “Pause updates.” You can repeat this process several more times after the first seven days, a total of five times, to postpone the updates for 35 days.

Users of Windows Pro can also manage the delivery of updates by using group policy settings or the enterprise-level Windows Update for Business (WUB) tool.

You may choose when Windows updates happen.

The notion of nine-to-five employment has lost favor in the workplace where we now reside. You might start working at 6 in the morning or later in the day and work until after midnight. Because it interferes with their work, many users have found it bothersome when Windows updates during working hours. However, you can schedule update installs so that they don’t interfere with your work.

Control the Windows 10 update window times

On the Windows Update screen, select Change active hours to adjust the Windows 10 update hours. By selecting the Change link next to your current active hours on the screen that appears, you may manually choose the hours that you use on your PC. Choose the times that correspond to your regular computer use on the screen that appears. There won’t be any updates installed during certain times. But keep in mind that there can be no more than 18 active hours overall.

As an alternative, you can rely on Windows to determine your active hours for you based on the hours you’re most likely to be working (based on your prior activity). The slider next to “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity” should be changed from Off to On on the “Change Active Hours” screen.
Windows upgrades may or may not require a restart of your computer. Microsoft Defender updates that incorporate malware definitions typically don’t require a system restart, whereas other updates must. By default, only when it’s not in use will your computer restart to complete the updates’ installation.

Go to the Windows Update screen and select Advanced settings if you want Windows to notify you through a system tray icon when your computer needs to restart to complete an update installation. Slide the “Show a notification when your PC requires a restart to finish updating” slider to On in the “Update notifications” section of the resulting screen.

The Windows Update screen will include updates that have been downloaded but have not yet been installed. On the Windows Update page, select Restart now if you want the downloaded update to be installed right away. Click Restart settings and choose the day and hour of your desired PC restart if you want it to happen at a specified time. Additionally, you can click Advanced options from the Windows Update screen and then, on the screen that appears, in the “Update options” section, slide the “Restart this device as soon as possible when a restart is required to install an update” slider to On if you want Windows to always install updates and restart your computer right away (basically disregarding your active hours). (Your PC needs to be powered on and plugged in.)

While we’re here, one more update option: You may ask Windows Update to install updates for not only Windows but also other Microsoft applications like Microsoft Office. To do so, on the Windows Update screen click Advanced options, and then in the “Update options” portion of the screen that appears, drag the slider from Off to On under “Receive updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows.”

Control the Windows 11 update window times

Although the interfaces that let you do that are slightly different, you can set the update hours in Windows 11 in a similar manner to how you can in Windows 10. Click the down arrow next to Active hours after selecting Advanced settings on the Windows Update screen in version 11. Click Adjust active hours in the area that displays, then choose Manually from the drop-down selection that appears. There are separate controls for “Start time” and “End time.” Choose your new schedule.

Choose Adjust active hours and Automatically instruct Windows to choose your active hours on your behalf. The sole difference between Windows 11 and Windows 10’s other alternatives is that Windows 11 doesn’t offer the ability to install updates for other Microsoft products.

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