How to disable Windows 11 automatic reboots?

Anonymous
2024-02-18T11:19:20+00:00

Hi,

I have browsed this forum but found so far no real solution:

It has happened to my now several times that I was running tasks over extended periods of time only to come back to my PC the next morning to find Windows 11 had done an automatic reboot! So not only the tasks weren't finished, worse, lots of preparatory work was lost!

I don't want Windows to ever automatically reboot after an update. Never. Ever. Period. I want to be informed about updates, that's fine, and I keep Windows 11 up to date, but under no circumstances ever is it acceptable that Windows just shovels an update on my PC and disrupts overnight tasks and REBOOTS(!) my PC all by itself.

So it would be very helpful if somebody could tell me how to disable these automatic update reboots once and for all. I don't want to "pause" Updates (I absolutely want updates, I just want to control myself when the updates are done) and resetting "work hours" is of no use unless I can set it to 24 hours.

Best regards

Nick

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Windows update

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-06-18T10:42:28+00:00

    My simple solution for this for the last couple of years of using Win11 on a fileserver at home has been to use "Pause updates". I choose "Pause for 5 Weeks" and try to schedule a manual Check for update, update and reboot once a month, but of course if i don't remember.. the server reboots itself after 5 Weeks ;-)

    Image

    I also use this "Pause updates" on my media PC connected to the Home Cinema, hate updates during watching films and series..

    Will try this "Active hour" trick to see if that works.

    Arild

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-05-30T13:55:23+00:00

    You know, I've tried this and so many options to no success. And now yet again Microsoft reboots my computer for bloody updates in the middle of the night and work is lost from the previous day on my university paper.

    This is exactly why I am about to switch platforms back to Apple

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-06-12T18:13:15+00:00

    See my answer above. It works like a charm.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-06-12T17:10:24+00:00

    This answer has already been submitted in this thread and does not fix the problem.

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  5. Reported
    Emmanuel Santana 40,195 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-02-18T12:56:01+00:00

    Hello Nick, thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community. I am here to help and provide assistance with any questions or concerns you may have.

    Here's how to stop Windows from automatically restarting after updates:

    1. Open the Registry Editor (search 'regedit' in the Start menu)
    2. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
    3. Right-click, create a new DWORD value named 'NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers'
    4. Set its value to '1'.

    See https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deplo... for more restart options.

    Let me know if it works, happy to help.

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