[Tip] Disable “Check for Updates” Button in Windows 10

In previous article, we told you that manually clicking on “Check for Updates” button located on Windows Update page in Windows 10 can download and install testing updates in your computer. Clicking on “Check for Updates” button makes you an advanced user and invites optional updates in your system which are generally not available for public by default.

You can read following article for details:

[Important] If You Click “Check for Updates” Button in Windows 10

If you decide to never click on “Check for Updates” button, other people can intentionally or unintentionally click on the button without your knowledge. If it happens, you’ll be unable to prevent those testing updates installation in your PC.

Similarly if you have disabled Windows Updates feature in your computer or have set it to notify before downloading and installing new updates using this tutorial, other people can click on “Check for Updates” button to immediately download and install available updates in your computer system.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could disable the “Check for Updates” button permanently in your Windows 10 computer? Yes, today in this tutorial, we are going to share a small tweak to completely disable “Check for Updates” button in Windows 10. Once you disable “Check for Updates” button in your computer, it’ll be grayed out i.e. disabled and no one will be able to click on it. Windows 10 will also show “Some settings are managed by your organization” and “This option is managed by your organization” messages near “Check for Updates” button when it’s disabled.

Following screenshot shows “Check for Updates” button disabled in Windows 10 PC:

It’ll prevent and restrict all users from manually checking for new updates and no one will be able to download and install new updates manually in your computer.

If you also want to disable “Check for Updates” button in your Windows 10 device, following methods will help you:

METHOD 1: Using Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)

1. Press “WIN+R” key combination to launch RUN dialog box then type gpedit.msc and press Enter. It’ll open Group Policy Editor.

2. Now go to:

3. In right-side pane, look for “Remove access to use all Windows Update features” option.

4. The option would be set to Not Configured. Double-click on it and set it to Enabled.

5. Now wait for few seconds and open Windows Update page in Settings app and you’ll find “Check for Updates” button grayed out i.e. disabled.

NOTE: If the button is not disabled, restart your computer to take effects. You can also execute gpupdate /force command in Command Prompt to force group policy change. You can also try to close and re-open Windows Update page 4-5 times and it’ll apply the changes. Sometimes clicking once on “Check for Updates” button is required to apply these kind of changes related to Windows Update as mentioned in this tutorial. So click on “Check for Updates” button once to apply changes.

PS: In future, if you want to re-enable the button, double-click on “Remove access to use all Windows Update features” option and set it not Not Configured or Disabled.

METHOD 2: Using Registry Editor (regedit.exe)

If you are using Home edition of Windows 10, you’ll not find Group Policy Editor tool as this Windows edition doesn’t contain this program.

If you can’t use or don’t want to use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

3. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD SetDisableUXWUAccess and set its value to 1

4. Now wait for few seconds and open Windows Update page in Settings app and you’ll find “Check for Updates” button grayed out i.e. disabled.

NOTE: If the button is not disabled, restart your computer to take effects. You can also try to close and re-open Windows Update page 4-5 times and it’ll apply the changes. Sometimes clicking once on “Check for Updates” button is required to apply these kind of changes related to Windows Update. So click on “Check for Updates” button once to apply changes.

PS: If you decide to restore the button in future, delete the DWORD created in step 3.