Disable Windows 10 automatic restart after updates

Hello my name is Bradford and I'm an Independent Advisor for the Microsoft Community and I will try to resolve your problem.

1. Click on the “Start” button and type

gpedit.msc

press Enter.

2. In the Local Group Policy Editor, go to

Computer Configuration ->

->Administrative Templates->

-> Windows Components->

-> Windows Update

3. Double-click on “No auto-restart with automatic installations of scheduled updates”.
4. Select "Enabled", and then click "OK".
5. Close the local group policy editor.

If the above steps don't have the effect you desired please let me know!

Note that this solution only works with Windows 10 Pro. It does not work for Windows 10 Home.

Got anything for W10 Home?

Very simple, PERMANENT solution in a few basic steps:

1. Create a new text file, located wherever you want, preferably hidden somewhere in the system so you don't accidently delete the file; my preference is placing it in the windows update orchestrator folder (the piece of cancerware responsible for this idiotic design flaw); this folder is located at C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator
2. It is unnecessary to put anything in the text file; name it whatever you want, but change the file extension from .txt to .bat
3. Open up the start menu, type in "task scheduler" and open it
4. Open the left-most viewing pane, click the drop-down icon next to "Task Scheduler Library", then "Microsoft", then "Windows", and finally scroll down near the bottom and select "UpdateOrchestrator"
5. In the top-middle pane, select the "Reboot" task and right click it, then select "Disable"
6. Right-click on the "reboot" task again, go to the "Triggers" tab, select any triggers there and delete them
7. The final, and most important step (this is the process that keeps re-enabling automatic restarts), go to the "Actions" tab, EDIT the "start a program" action, and change the default file to the text document/.bat file you created in step 1-2

That's it! So long as that file exists on your computer, it will prevent Windows Update Orchestrator from checking/initializing the "Reboot" file, the process responsible for taking your computer hostage......

Sorry, I tried all this step by step and it does not do a damn thing. The computer has rebooted multiple times since I did this with no apparent change.

I had the one policy setting for a good number of years.  It no longer seems to work.   My 1909 system restarted last night.. but there are other registry/policy settings related to win updates that might still work... I'm holding off on disabling windows update service and the musnotification setting for now...   

"AUOptions" set to "2" might do it... I'm going with that for now... under:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

UPDATE FEB 29: This setting (AUOptions) works fine for me.  I am simply notified when updates are available.  All I have to do is wait until I am ready to download and apply the updates and reboot my system.  If I don't download the updates, no automated reboot will occur. You simply don't download the updates until  you are ready.

Thanks much for the info; I'm trying your 14FEB19 suggestion first.

Just thought I'd offer an addendum to your "Reboot.old" procedure.  Typing long complicated commands (not that this one is particularly daunting) often can be fraught with typos, so instructions on how to copy and paste into command prompts can be found here:

https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-copy-and-paste-windows-command-prompt.htm .

Hang in there.

1: Only some hate this feature and I am not one of them. So happy!

2. What update is it? Only updates like the cumulative ones and cumulative.net... requires a restart. Plus, it will only ask for a restart after the update (cumulative) is done downloading and finished installing. Actually, after restarting, then it will counts as a successful install. Normally, Windows will not ask for a restart, or automatically restart, never heard off automatically restart unless it pertains to that update. I never have that issue before.

Well, count me as another who hates it.  Giving me no option after downloading and installing an update (which does not warn the user of this ahead of time) other than to have my computer restart without my consent once my active hours (which can only be set to a maximum of 18 hours) are over.... that's simply not acceptable.  There is no valid reason to prevent users from postponing the restart for as long as we wish, and doing it at a time of our choosing.  Anything else leaves me inclined to disable updates altogether.  These are *our* computers, not Microsoft's.  If they can't understand that, they'll be left in Linux's dust.

For those that consider Linux too small a contender for that last sentence to be anything but a joke:  consider that Android is just a modified Linux OS, and currently holds the largest market share among all internet-connected devices, having overtaken Windows by 2017.  Not long after Windows 10 was released, come to think...

And if you search on Microsoft's own bing.com for <disable windows 10 update automatic restart>, you get over 28 million results.  That's more than if you search "Avengers Endgame", for an indication of how popular the idea of disabling this "feature" is.  When a customer asks for something, a smart business doesn't respond by trying to tell the customer why they shouldn't want that instead of actually giving it to them.  And no, I'm not going to pay for a more expensive version of Windows so that I can use gpedit to disable this stupidity that never should have existed in the first place.  Trying to frustrate me into paying more isn't a great business plan, either.

I realized after re-reading his post that he has no clue what we are talking about. 

Evidence:

1. He says that he is "so happy" about this feature.
2. He later says "Windows will not ask for a restart, or automatically restart, never heard off automatically restart unless it pertains to that update. I never have that issue before."

Which is it? Is he so happy about the automatic/forced restarts, or has he "...never [had] that issue before."?