You have been using Windows 10 on your computer for a long time. Does the operating system suit you, and you have no intention of switching to the next version of the Microsoft operating system?
However, your PC meets the system requirements of Windows 11, so have you been getting notifications for a while that the Windows 11 upgrade is available for your computer?
Are you afraid that you will accidentally update or that your PC will update automatically, so you searched the web for a solution and came across this article? Well, if things are more or less like this, I inform you immediately and with great pleasure that you have come across the article that is right for you.
The procedures that I am going to show you not only will block the continuous update requests but they will keep the latest version of Windows off your computer. However, in the future, when you’re ready to upgrade your PC to the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, you’ll be able to upgrade without any problems.
How to block upgrade to Windows 11
You can prevent upgrading to Windows 11 using the group policy editor and if you prefer, the registry editor. Both procedures are quite simple and fast and are described in detail in the following chapters of this short article.
Through the group policy editor
Block upgrade to Windows 11 using Group Policy Editor it is really very simple, however, before continuing it is necessary to make a very important premise.
The Group Policy Editor is only enabled for users running the Pro, Enterprise and Education editions of Windows. If you are using the Home edition, the editor is most likely disabled.
To check, press from the keyboard WIN+Rtype “gpedit.msc” and click on the button “OK”. If the error message is shown “Cannot find file gpedit.msc”the editor is disabled.
In this case you have two possibilities: you can enable the editor through a simple operation and then carry out the procedure I am about to show you or alternatively carry out the operation using the system registry editor.
To enable the Group Policy Editor, read the guide How to enable the Group Policy Editor.
If the group policy editor is enabled by default on your PC or if you have manually enabled it, you can block the installation of Windows 11 by performing the following steps:
- Press from keyboard WIN+R to start the Run tool;
- Type “gpedit.msc”then click the button “OK” or press ENTER from keyboard;
- In the window that opens, use the left side menu to expand the folder “Administrative models” present under the heading “Computer Configuration”;
- Now expand the folder “Windows Components” and then the folder “Windows Update”;
- Finally select the folder “Windows Updates for Business”;
- From the right screen, right-click on the item “Select the target feature update version”;
- From the contextual menu that opens, click on the item “Edit”;
- Select option “Activity”;
- Under the heading “For which version of the Windows product do you want to receive feature updates”type “Windows 10”;
- Under the heading “Target version for feature updates” type “21H1” or “21H2”;
- Click on the button “Apply” and then click the button “OK”;
- Exit the Group Policy Editor.
If you don’t know whether to write “21H1” or “21H2”check the Windows specification information using the app “Settings”to do it:
- Awards WIN + I or click on the Start button and then click on the gear icon;
- Click on the entry “System”;
- From the left side menu, select the item “Information”;
- In the section “Windows Specifications”check the data next to the item “Version”.
At this point, Windows will no longer try to update your computer to the latest operating system version.
Suppose you later decide to update your computer to the latest version. In that case, you can install Windows 11 manually or if you decide to re-enable the update prompts, just follow the steps seen above and select the option “Not configured”.
Via Registry Editor
As an alternative to the previous procedure, as written at the beginning, you can prevent upgrading to Windows 11 using Registry Editor. As always, before carrying out such an operation, I suggest you back up the system registry.
After backing up the registry, the steps to take to prevent the installation of Windows 11 are as follows:
- Start the Run tool by pressing the keyboard WIN+R;
- Type “regedit”then click the button “OK” or press ENTER;
- Click on “Yes”;
- Copy the following path:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows- Paste the path into the Registry Editor address bar, then press ENTER from keyboard;
- Right-click on the Windows folder, present in the left side menu;
- From the context menu that opens, select the item “New”and then click on the entry “Key”;
- Rename the newly created key to “WindowsUpdate”;
- Right-click on the created key, select the entry “New” and then click on the entry “Value “DWORD (32bit)”;
- Give the value the name “TargetReleaseVersion”;
- Double click on the newly created value, and in the window that opens, type “1” in the field below the item “Value”;
- Click on “OK” and close the editor.
That’s it, now the system will never ask you again if you want to update your computer to the latest version of the operating system.
If you later decide to remove the update disable:
- Open the registry editor with the procedure seen above;
- Type the following path in the address field:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate- Double click on the value “TargetReleaseVersion”;
- Type “0” in the field below the item “Value”;
- Click the button “OK” and close the editor.
Alternatively, you could opt for a manual installation of the latest operating system version.
