Many PC users don’t want to manually update device drivers since regular Windows updates take care of it just fine. However, these automatic driver updates can be a hassle for system administrators, enterprise users, gamers, and other power users who want more control over driver changes. Thankfully, you can disable these driver updates while a regular Windows update continues uninterrupted.
Why Disable Driver Updates in Windows
Windows taking care of all driver updates is a great convenience. However, many users may want to do it on their own schedules, or keep certain drivers unchanged.
- Manufacturer/OEM drivers > generics: through a regular Windows update, Microsoft overwrites your finetuned NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Dolby, ASUS, or MSI drivers with generics drivers. It can sometimes lead to missing features and poor performance inside your favorite applications and games.
- Instabilities and crashes due to poor driver configuration: new drivers pushed via Windows Update can cause black screens, blue screens of death, game stuttering, audio issues, monitor flickers, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth issues. One might think it’s rare to have these issues, but we routinely come across them in our monthly Windows 11/10 updates bulletin.
- Enterprise users/system administrators want better controls: if you’re an enterprise user of Windows or a system administrator managing multiple devices, you need greater controls over driver changes. These users prefer Intune, WSUS, or can only download manufacturer packages.
- Specialized drivers for niche hardware: Windows generic drivers work across the board, but certain PC hardware works best with exact driver matches. Think of audio interfaces, scanners, USB devices, or gaming peripherals.
- You may have paid for vendor specific drivers: Microsoft may aggressively replace any older drivers with its own generics. However, as a user, you may have paid extra for vendor optimized drivers.
In summary, for non-average PC users, automatic driver updates aren’t the best solution. You prefer locking out your Windows device from unexpected changes.
1. Disable Driver Updates Through Hardware Settings [Older Windows Builds]
You can disable driver updates from the regular Windows hardware settings. However, this method is not visible on latest Windows 11 builds.
For older builds and Windows 10, press Win + X, and select System.
This action will open the System window. Here, click on Advanced System Settings.
A new pop-up window, System Properties opens. Navigate to the Hardware tab and click on the Device Installation Settings button.
In the Device Installation Settings window, on older builds, you can select the No, let me choose what to do radio button. After that, you can select the Never install driver software from Windows update radio button. Click on the Save changes button to save the changes.
On newer Windows 11 builds (22H2 -> 25H2), just select Yes to automatically downloading manufacturer apps for your devices.
Restart your system and you are good to go.
2. Disable Driver Updates Through Group Policy
If you are managing multiple systems, then the Group Policy Editor can control driver update policies. To start, press Win + R, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
Navigate to the following folder: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Internet Communication Management -> Internet Communication settings.
Now, find the Turn off Windows update device driver searching option and double-click on it.
The above action will open the additional settings window. Simply select the Enabled option and click on the OK button to save the changes.
Restart your system and you are good to go. If you ever want to revert, select either the Disabled or Not configured option.
3. Disable Driver Updates Through Registry Editor
The other way to disable driver updates is by using the Windows Registry Editor. First, press Win + R, type regedit and press the Enter button.
Once the Windows registry has been opened, navigate to the following key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching
Here on the right pane, you can see the SearchOrderConfig key. The default value data is set to “1” which simply means that the automatic updates are enabled. To change the value, double-click on it.
The above action will open the Edit DWORD Value window. Here, enter the new value data as “0” and click on the OK button to save the changes.
The above action will completely disable the driver updates through Windows update.
4. Use This PowerShell Switch
If you’re a regular PowerShell user, this is the best way to pause automatic Windows driver updates. We’ve saved this direct method for last because, unlike the methods above, you can’t view the process as clearly.
Open PowerShell in administrator mode. You can also launch it in quake mode, a global console from the top of your Windows screen.
Now enter the following command:
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" -Name "SearchOrderConfig" -Value 0 -Type DWord -ForceTo restart the automatic driver updates, exit the current PowerShell window. Restart a fresh one in administrator mode, and enter the following:
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" -Name "SearchOrderConfig" -Value 1 -Type DWord -Force
As you can see, disabling driver updates through Windows Update is just a matter of a few clicks. However, only follow this tutorial if you know what you are doing, as disabling automatic driver updates may sometimes interfere with how your device works.
If you are an average Windows PC user with no need for customizations, you should not make any changes to your drivers. But if you decide to proceed, make sure you create a system restore point first.
