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Windows 11 has a feature called ‘Pause Windows Updates Option Greyed Out’ issue that lets you stop updates. As the name suggests, it lets you stop your computer’s automatic Windows updates. The best part is that you can put off downloading Windows updates for up to 5 weeks.
Let’s say you wanted to stop Windows updates on your computer, but the option wasn’t there, was missing, or was greyed out for some reason. Also, it displays a message that says “Some settings are controlled by your organization.” If that’s the case, you can use this guide to get rid of the message and get the option back.
When you try to pause the update on your Windows 11 computer and the “Pause Update” button is greyed out and you can’t click on it, you can easily fix the problem by following these simple steps. So, let’s look at the specifics below.
Restore the Pause Update Option Using the Group Policy Editor
Group Policy Editor is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that lets you change how sites and domains use group policy settings. With this, your organization can turn off the feature on your work system that lets you pause updates. Even on a personal computer, if the Pause updates policy is set up wrong, the option to turn it off can be taken away from the Settings page.
- Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
- Type gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Command Prompt.
- In Group Policy Editor, navigate to the following location:
- Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> Windows Update >> Manage end user experience
- In the right pane, double-click on Remove access to “Pause updates” feature policy.
- Select Not Configured or Disabled in the pop-up window.
- Click Apply and OK to save the changes. Close Group Policy Editor.
- If the policy is already set to Not configured, then close Group Policy Editor and skip to the next method.
- Next, press Win + X to open the WinX menu.
- Click on Windows Terminal from the context menu
- In the Windows Terminal window, type the following command and press enter to force update the policy changes
- Close Command Prompt when you see a success message for the policy update.
Fix Pause Update Grayed Out Using Registry Editor
Registry Editor is a Windows tool that lets you add or remove features by changing, viewing, and editing the Windows Registry. For instance, you can use it to change the UX value for the “pause update” feature in the Windows update settings so that it works again.
Note that if you change the registry entries in the wrong way, your system could stop working. Because of this, you should make a restore point before continuing with the steps below.
- Press Win + R to open Run.
- Type regedit and click OK to open the Registry Edit
- In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following location. You can also copy and paste the path in the registry editor address bar for a quick navigation:
- Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
- Inside the WindowsUpdate key (folder), locate the SetDisablePauseUXAccess DWORD value.
- Right-click on the value and select Delete. Click Yes to confirm the action. Skip if you don’t have a value named SetDisablePauseUXAccess inside the Windows Update folder.
- After deleting the key, close the Registry Editor, and restart your PC. After the restart, you should have the pause update working in Settings.
‘Pause Windows Updates Option Greyed Out’ Run Windows Update Troubleshooter
The Windows Update troubleshooter is a snap-in tool for Windows that can help you fix some problems with Windows updates. You can also use this tool to fix Windows Update if the “Check for updates” button is greyed out.
- Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
- Click the Additional troubleshooters link from the right panel.
- Find Windows Update under the Get up and running section, and click it.
- Click the Run the troubleshooter button to run this tool.
Modify the Registry Key
- Press Win+R to open Run.
- Type regedit into the Run box and press Enter to open Registry Editor.
- Go to this path:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
- Find SettingsPageVisibility, right-click it, and select Delete.
- Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
- Close Registry Editor.
- Restart your computer
‘Pause Windows Updates Option Greyed Out’ Check Windows Update Service
- Click the search icon from the taskbar and search for services.
- Select Services from the search result to open it.
- Scroll down to find Windows Update and double-click it.
- On the Properties interface, select Automatic for Startup type. Then, click the Start button under Service status.
- Click Apply.
- Click OK.
You can get more help at the Microsoft Support Center.
FAQ
Why is my pause updates greyed out?
If you are using a work computer, the pause update function may have been disabled by your organization. On a personal computer, this issue can occur if you have miss configured an update-related policy or registry value.
How do I enable pause updates in Windows 11?
- Select Start > Settings > Windows Update .
- Select the amount of time you’d like to pause for. Note: After the pause limit is reached, you’ll need to install the latest updates before you can pause updates again.
Why are my Settings greyed out Windows 10?
Also, if all the settings for personalization are greyed out, it’s not a problem with the configuration. Because you haven’t turned on your copy of Windows 10 yet. In this case, click the “Windows isn’t activated,” “Activate Windows now,” and “Change product key to activate installation” options.
How do I permanently Pause Windows 11/10 Update?
Even though you can’t stop Windows 11 or Windows 10 updates for good, you can stop them for up to 5 weeks. You can use Windows Settings, Group Policy, Services, and so on. You can also use this guide to stop Windows Updates from downloading. If you are pausing Windows updates, you should download them manually from the Update download centre.