There are two types of updates in Windows 11 and 10 devices: feature updates and Quality Updates. By default, Windows automatically downloads and installs these updates on your PC. Windows also notify you to restart your computer immediately or schedule a restart when these updates are downloaded and installed. If you want, you can reschedule the restart of updates repeatedly.
However, Windows 11 and 10 have policies that let you specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts.
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How to Specify Deadlines for Automatic Restart to Windows 11 after Windows Updates?
To specify deadlines for automatic restarts after updates in Windows 11, you need to access Local Group Policy Editor. However, this function is not available in Home Edition, and you need to enable gpedit.msc on your PC to avail of this facility. Once you have access to Local Group Policy Editor on your computer, do the following:-
Step 1. First, open Local Group Policy Editor on your PC.
Step 2. Then, navigate to the following path in the left sidebar:-
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Legacy Policies
Step 3. On the right side pane, look for the policy name that says, “Specify deadline before auto-restart for update installation.” Then, double-click on this policy to change its settings.
Step 4. Select the
Step 5. Specify the days (allows you to select a minimum of two and a maximum of 30 days) for “Quality Updates” and “Feature Updates.”
Step 6. Then click the
Step 7. After that, hit the
Finally, restart your computer to apply the changes.
After doing the above steps, when Feature Updates or Quality Updates are installed on your PC, and you don’t restart your computer, Windows 11 automatically restart your device outside of active hours when the specified days limit is exceeded.
How to Specify Deadlines for Automatic Restart to Windows 10 after Windows Updates?
You can also specify deadlines for automatic restart after updates on Windows 10. For that, you need to have access to the Local Group Policy Editor. If you are using Windows 10 Home edition, you need to enable gpedit.msc first before proceeding with the steps.
Step 1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.
Step 2. When Local Group Policy Editor opens on your computer, navigate to the following location in the left side pane:-
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update
Step 3. Find out the “Specify deadlines for automatic updates and restarts” policy on the right-side panel and double click on it to open.
Step 4. Choose the
Step 5. Under the Options selection, you will see Quality Updates and Feature Updates. Quality updates (deadline) are used to specify the number of days before the Windows update launches automatically to install the monthly updates. At the same time, the Feature updates (deadline) are used to determine the number of days before Windows updates launch automatically to install a new version of Windows 10.
Here, you will find an additional option, Grace Period. You can select the number of days to wait before restarting the PC to apply the new changes from the Grace period drop-down menu. Finally, you can check or uncheck the option, “Don’t auto-restart until end of grace period,” according to your requirements.
Step 6. When you’re done with the above options, click the
Step 7. Then, hit the
Finally, reboot your computer to apply the changes.
