Microsoft Forces Auto App Updates on Windows 11 Users, PC World Groans

You can only pause automatic updates for up to five weeks now.

First, Microsoft took away Windows 10, although it later backtracked and decided to allow people to sign up for a one-year stay of execution through October 13, 2026. Now, they’ve further angered their user base by removing the option of turning off automatic updates for apps from Windows 11.

A MONDAY SURPRISE

Microsoft made no formal announcement about the change. It was Windows Central that noticed on October 20 that the Microsoft App Store removed the option to disable automatic updates.

Even though I typically encourage people to enable automatic updates, whether they’re using Windows, macOS, Android, iPadOS, or iOS, there are some good reasons not to always immediately install an update for an app when it becomes available.

Sometimes an update comes out that causes an app to become unstable or outright unusable. If it happens in an app that’s crucial to one’s work, it can be disastrous to their productivity.

The truly cautious often wait a few days to see if community reports of unstable or broken apps, caused by recent updates, trickle in. If not, they’ll download them. If they do, then they’ll hold off and pat themselves on the back for their cautious approach until a new update is released and vetted by the community, and then they’ll download it.

There’s an option to pause automatic updates for up to five weeks, but when those five weeks are up, those apps will download and apply their updates.

For as far back as I can remember, Windows enthusiasts prized the customizability of their sandbox operating systems. They could configure, modify, and choose how their operating systems ran to a greater extent than the more restrictive “walled garden” of Apple’s macOS operating system.

Even if that meant Windows was often less stable and less efficient than macOS, it’s always been brandished as one of the PC’s trump cards over Mac.

Microsoft has been slowly pushing Windows users into more of a “do as I say” approach as Windows 11 has evolved, and this latest change rankled PC diehards who don’t like the idea of Microsoft controlling what gets installed on their computers and when.

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