How to Stop Windows 11 From Auto-Installing Device Drivers

The only way to safely update Windows hardware drivers

Want to update your computer's hardware driver? Please get driver updates from Windows Update or the device manufacturer's website.

Before making the following changes, be sure to create a system restore point. If something goes wrong, it will be easier to undo the changes.

Use Settings to turn off automatic device driver installation

One way to prevent Windows 11 from automatically installing device drivers is to switch an option in Settings. To do this, press Windows i to start "Settings". In the left sidebar, select System. At the bottom of the right pane, select About.

Select Device Specifications. In the expanded section, select Advanced System Settings.

In the window that opens, open the Hardware tab and select Device Installation Settings.

In the window that opens, select No (your device may not work as expected). Then, click Save Changes.

In the future, you can re-enable automatic installation of device drivers by selecting Yes (recommended) and clicking Save Changes.

Block automatic device driver updates using local group policy editor

Another way to tell Windows 11 not to deliver driver updates through Windows Update is to change an option in the local Group Policy Editor. Please note that you can access this utility only when you are running Professional, Enterprise, or Education versions of Windows 11. If you are using the Home Edition, use one of the other methods.

Article How to determine whether you are running Windows 11 Home or Professional

This is a simple question – but how do you solve it?

Article First, press Windows R to start "Run". In the box that opens, type the following and select OK or press Enter:

 <code>gpedit.msc</code>

In the window that opens, use the options in the left sidebar to navigate to the following path:

<code>计算机配置> 管理模板> Windows组件> Windows Update > 管理从Windows Update提供的更新</code>

In the right pane, double-click the item that says "Do not include drivers in Windows Update". At the top, select Enabled. At the bottom, click Apply, and then click OK.

In the future, to undo the changes, select Not configured, then select Apply, and then select OK.

Use Registry Editor to prevent Windows 11 from automatically installing device driver updates

On Windows 11 Home (and others), you can adjust the registry value to prevent device driver updates via Windows Update. Be sure to back up the registry before making any changes to the registry.

First, press Windows R to start "Run". In the box that opens, type the following and select OK or press Enter:

 <code>regedit</code>

In the User Account Control Prompt, select Yes.

In Registry Editor, navigate to the following path. If you don't see the last bit (i.e. WindowsUpdate), right-click the previous part (i.e. Windows) and select New > Key. Type WindowsUpdate as the name and press Enter.

 <code>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdate</code>

In the right pane, right-click any blank space and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate as the name and press Enter. Double-click the newly created item, select the "Numerical Data" field, type 1, and then select OK.

Close Registry Editor and restart your Windows 11 computer. This will make your changes take effect.

In the future, to undo the changes, right-click the ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate project you created and select Delete. Alternatively, double-click the ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate item, select the Value Data field, type 0, and then click OK. Make sure to restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Article When do you need to update the driver?

Talk to any technician, read any forum, and at some point you will definitely be told to update the driver.

Article Tip: Rolling back a faulty update driver

If Windows 11 has already installed a faulty driver update, you can roll it back using the built-in feature. This allows you to return to previous driver versions so that your device continues to work as usual.

To do this, visit Windows Search (press Windows S), type Device Manager, and then start the utility. In the Device Manager window, expand the section for a specific device. Then, right-click on your device and select Properties.

In the Properties window, access the Driver tab. Here, click the "Rollback Driver" button. If this button is grayed out, it means that Windows has not recently installed any updates for this driver.

Select the reason for uninstalling the selected driver and follow the on-screen prompts. After you have finished uninstalling the driver update, restart the computer.

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This is how to prevent Windows 11 from automatically installing and updating drivers for any connected devices. Just like that, you can also choose to manually install the Windows 11 update.

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