How to Cancel Windows 11 update?

Yet more B$ from M$. 2023 and we're still reg-hacking around issues they have invented for us. Why bother even offering the reg hack ability?!

Running a fleet of Windows 10 machines and no slick way to say "No" to an update. Why is there no ADMX addtion that is just "Window$ 11? - Yes/No"? I pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing and this is what I have to deal with.

Oh, wait, I know why. Mooooooonnnnnneeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy. Screw the user/admin, we want their data so we can continue to amass disgusting amounts of wealth and control. Get bent M$.

Lynn's instructions are posted. They are ABOVE IN THE COMMENTS!! I copied them for you again.

I totally agree. And what I have to say here may or may not work if Windows 11 is fully downloaded but not yet installed. But I'm guessing it might, based on the first line of the instructions below. I was in a situation where Windows 11 was partially downloaded and not yet installed when I caught it and paused updates until I could figure out what to do. Thanks to some experts on this thread, I was able to stop any further attempts to foist Windows 11 on me. I followed these steps to the letter and in this order. They are copied and pasted from some of the earliest posts in this thread. The only thing I've changed is to change the Windows 10 target version to the latest/last one that became available after these instructions were originally given.

If it indicates that it is updating to Windows 11, and it displays 'downloading' or even 'reboot to install', then:

1. You need to stop wuauserv and bits, so they don't immediately recreate the directory you're going to delete in step 2.

To stop them, you either need to go to control panel, services, and locate the services by name, and stop them (do not change their startup mode!).

Or, you can open a command prompt with administrative privileges and type in the commands 'net stop wuauserv' and 'net stop bits', respectively. It should look something like this;

C:\WINDOWS\system32> net stop wuauserv

C:\WINDOWS\system32> net stop bits

Things that can go awry with this step:

If you see an error message, or 'The Windows Update Service is not started', you either don't have Administrative Privileges, or you have the Windows Update Window open. Opening the 'Windows Update' window to check what happens, actually restarts the services, so don't do that!

2. You need to delete the directory where it's downloaded the Windows 11 files.

It is the catalog 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\29915d28b757d79214ddd971f3fd6134'

Now you have reset the progress on the Windows 11 patch. However, this is just a temporary solution. As soon as you go to the 'Windows Update' window, it will restart the services (wuauserv and bits), and start downloading Windows 11 again.

To make it last a bit longer, you need to do the registry hack that Rodrigo.Quieroz posted about on December 18 (the first page in this thread), so that Windows Update thinks that it should target a later version of Windows 10 instead of Windows 11.

[I think I got the following from an article online. The steps outlined are the same ones in Rodrigo.Quieroz's post. Or you can just go back to Dec. 18, 2021 in this thread to find it as first given. All of these steps are done BEFORE you unpause Windows Update but AFTER you have stopped wuauserv and bits and deleted the directory where Windows 11 downloads are stored and waiting! (steps 1 & 2 above). Now edit the registry so that Windows 11 will never bother you again. Steps below.]

You can block Windows 11 update by changing some registry keys.

Fantastic YouTube tutorial. Starts around minute 4: https://youtu.be/S\_s50gEvG7g

(Solution 4 here has a screenshot How to Stop Windows 11 Update (Block It Forever) - EaseUS )

Also helpful: Rename or delete Software Distribution folder in Windows 11/10 (thewindowsclub.com)

Be careful while using the Registry Editor, if you change the wrong key, you can mess up your system.

It is very important to keep your system updated, always check for updates on Windows Update.

Now follow these instructions to block Windows 11 Update:

Right Click the Start Menu and select "Run"

type regedit and press Enter

On the Registry editor window, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
(You can copy and paste the address on the address bar)

On the right side of the screen, right click > New > DWORD (32-bit) > and name it TargetReleaseVersion , double click it and set Value Data to 1

Again on the right side of the screen , right click > New > String Value > and name it ProductVersion , double click it and set Value Data to Windows 10

Again on the right side of the screen , right click > New > String Value > and name it TargetReleaseVersionInfo , double click it and set Value Data to 22h2

If you can't find the Windows Update key, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows, right click > New > Key , and name it WindowsUpdate

Delete the catalog 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\29915d28b757d79214ddd971f3fd6134'

This catalog contains the Windows 11 upgrade files.

You have to delete the catalog itself, not just the files in it.

The catalog name is an Id, and is enough to make Windows Update resume the Windows 11 download, unless you delete it.

4. Reboot

Lynn's instructions didn't come thru

See Lynn's reply below. She is giving you the exact instructions on how to rid your computer of Windows 11. Both her and I and many others did this same thing.

I believe you are where I was in that Windows 11 downloaded but was waiting for a restart to install it. I kept pausing my computer over and over again until I could no longer do that.

Follow Lynn's instructions below.

Microsoft needs to provide a way to cancel the installation of W11 that has been downloaded and is waiting for Restart to complete the installation. Microsoft did not offer an obvious alert that this download was going to happen nor the option to reject this download and the subsequent requirement to do the W11 installation. As long as W10 is supported the choice to move to W11 should be an option to the user and there should be obvious prompts and process to accept this move to a new operating system. I to have had nothing but bad experiences when moving to a new Windows operating system.