- Microsoft previously promised that it would give users the option to pause Windows 11 updates for as long as necessary
- The first work towards this end was discovered hidden in an early version
- It’s still early, but it’s an encouraging sign that this will be in testing soon.
As part of its campaign to fix Windows 11, one of Microsoft’s biggest promises was to give users more control over Windows updates – and it’s now clear that this feature will arrive sooner rather than later.
Neowin spotted regular Windows 11 leaker PhantomOfEarth posting on X to highlight a change with the option to pause OS updates, found hidden in the background (and enabled using a Windows configuration tool).
There is now a button that displays a calendar view, allowing you to specify a date until which updates will be paused. When that day is reached, updates will resume, although as PhantomOfEarth notes, the limited availability of dates should currently be ignored, as this work is still in its very early stages.
Article continues below
The feature isn’t even officially available for testing yet and is hidden in the most recent preview build that arrived in the Dev channel (although it’s probably also in the Beta channel, the leaker notes).
What this does show, however, is that movement is being put in place, and we can hope that we can see the possibility of pausing updates during testing for Windows 11, perhaps this month or in May.
Analysis: Here’s why this ability is so valuable
Pavan Davuluril, who leads the Windows and Devices group at Microsoft, previously promised that you will be able to pause Windows 11 updates for as long as necessary in the future.
So this seems to be the first step towards this goal, with the calendar probably allowing you to select the date you want and the length of time you want to pause updates. Well, unless “as long as you need” has a time limit. (And I bet it will, but it will probably take a long time of a year or so, or at least six months – you can’t and shouldn’t delay updating Windows 11 forever, of course).
If you’re wondering: why would you want to wait to apply an update? Well, it’s true that monthly Windows 11 updates contain security fixes that, in an ideal world, should be applied quickly (because then any patched vulnerabilities are public knowledge and more likely to be exploited). However, these cumulative updates also come with bugs, as we’ve seen too often in the past with Windows 11.
One scenario could be that, for example, owners of a certain GPU, or perhaps a CPU, experience serious problems with an update and problems are reported on social media. Imagine if some of these reports included PCs not booting after updating. Now, in this case, you probably wouldn’t want to take the risk of your system completely crashing in such an unpleasant way, so you would want to wait for the update.
Right now, you can pause updates on Windows 11 Home, but only for five weeks. You can continue for longer with Windows 11 Pro (although it’s a bit tedious, via the Group Policy Editor), and you may also want to do this on the Home version of the operating system, if a problem is still persistently reported. Microsoft is going to give this ability to those of us using Windows 11 Home, and to do it easily – and rightly so, because if you’re nervous about an update for such a reason, you should be able to pause for as long as you want.
Of course, as noted, there’s still a balance to be struck between pausing a worrying update and not continuing. Also long without significant security patches, but it is a choice the user must make based on their assessment of perceived risks. We shouldn’t be forced to install an update after a month of waiting, just because Microsoft asks for it.
The best laptops for every budget
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube And TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
