How to Cancel Windows 11 update?

Anonymous
2021-12-16T19:58:35+00:00

I'm one of the people who had Windows 11 download itself without me telling it to do so. Now, it is ready for install. I do not want to install Windows 11 at this point. I want to keep my Windows 10.

I've paused it for 7 days, but this is a temporary solution. Can I delete the Windows 11 download somehow? I'm running Windows 10 on a brand new Dell computer.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Sumit 44,306 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-01-22T08:44:28+00:00

    I was told by MS that the same should work and confirmed by other users as well.

    Can you send me a screenshot of the policies you applied?

    Ideally, gpudate command, and then pausing and resuming updates is necessary.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-01-22T08:56:11+00:00

    I was told by MS that the same should work and confirmed by other users as well.

    Can you send me a screenshot of the policies you applied?

    Ideally, gpudate command, and then pausing and resuming updates is necessary.

    Thanks for your reply, here it is

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-01-22T09:33:31+00:00

    I tried the GPO, but it didn't work. At least not on its own.

    From the description, it sounds as if I was in the same state as Mary when I tried it. Both machines had Windows 11 downloaded and were just waiting for reboot to install; On one machine I had tried out Windows 11, and reverted back to Windows 10, but it had downloaded Windows 11 again and was just waiting for me to reboot so it could install it. And on the second machine, I wasn't even given an option. It had decided I should have Windows 11, and had downloaded it and waited for a reboot.

    If you are in this state, both the GPO and the Registry hack are ineffective, because Windows Update first checks if there are any incomplete updates to download in the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\ directory. The folder named '29915d28b757d79214ddd971f3fd6134' is the one for the Windows 11 update.

    I found that if I just deleted the folder, then Windows Update re-created it again immediately. So to do it properly, you have to stop the Windows Update Server (wuauserv) and the transfer service (BITS).

    At this point the Registry hack works. The GPO might also work.

    Full instructions on page 5.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-01-22T11:01:29+00:00

    Thanks, JoJun. I'll give it a try. 🥰

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-01-22T11:05:45+00:00

    If you don't also delete the download catalog, then Windows Update will see the catalog and resume the download.

    Or ask to apply the patch, if the download has completed.

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