Microsoft Office updates are important to keep apps up to date with the latest features and security patches. However, there may be cases where you want to turn off or control the automatic updating of Microsoft Office..
Whether you want to maintain a stable software environment or want more control over the update process, knowing how to prevent Microsoft Office from updating automatically can be extremely helpful. In this article, we will explore four ways to turn off Microsoft Office updates on Windows. So without wasting any more time, dive right in!
Reasons to turn off automatic Office updates
You should regularly update the Office applications on Windows. Office updates introduce new features and eliminate known bugs and issues.
However, you will need to consider turning off automatic Office updates for a number of important reasons. Let’s check them out:
- If you want more control over Office applications and want to decide which updates to install manually, you need to turn off automatic Office updates.
- Automatic updates can sometimes install updates that may not be compatible with your system. When that happens, your system is prone to problems like blue screens, error codes, or whole system crashes.
- Automatic Office updates consume a lot of data, which is the last thing you want if you’re on a data cap.
Those are some of the reasons you might want to consider turning off automatic Office updates. Now, check out how to do it.
1. Use the Settings app
The fastest way to handle updates on a Windows PC is through the Settings app. You can use it to manage Windows, drivers, and even Microsoft Office updates. Here are step-by-step instructions to disable Microsoft Office updates on Windows using the Settings app:
Step 1: Press the Windows + I key combination to open the Settings application.
Step 2: Select Windows Update from the left sidebar and Advanced options in the right pane.
Step 3: Turn off the switch next to the ‘Get updates for other Microsoft products’ option.
2. Use Office Applications
You can use any Microsoft Office application to turn off automatic updates for all Office applications. We will be using Microsoft Word in the steps below, but you can also use any other Office application. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Start Menu.
Step 2: Enter From and press Enter.
Step 3: Click the Account option in the left sidebar.
Step 4: Click the Update Options button and select Disable Updates from the context menu.
Step 5: Click Yes to make Universal Access Control appear.
Windows will not update Office applications on its own.
3. Use Registry Editor
The Registry Editor tool in Windows is an important utility that allows you to manage important registries. You can use it to access the Microsoft Office registry and configure it so that it doesn’t update automatically. Here’s how to do it:
Note: Editing the registry can be risky because one wrong operation can make your system unstable. Therefore, back up the registry and create a restore point before continuing with the steps below.
Step 1: Press the Windows key to open the Star Menu, type Registry Editor in the search bar, and then press Enter.
Step 2: In Registry Editor, navigate to the following location:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft
Step 3: Right-click the Microsoft key in the left sidebar, move the cursor to New, and select Key.
Step 4: Name the Office key.
Step 5: Right-click the Office key in the left sidebar, move the cursor to New, and select Key.
Step 6: Name the key as 16.0.
Step 7: Right-click the 16.0 key in the left sidebar, move the cursor to New, and select Key.
Step 8: Name the key Common.
Step 9: Right-click on the Common key in the left sidebar, move the cursor to New and select Key.
Step 10: Name OfficeUpdate.
Step 11: Right-click the OfficeUpdate key, move the cursor to New, and select DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Step 12: Name the value EnableAutomaticUpdates.
Step 13: Double-click the EnableAutomaticUpdates value, type 0 under Value data and click OK.
Next, reboot your system. Accordingly, Microsoft Office will not download any updates on its own.
4. Use the Local Group Policy Editor
Another way to prevent Microsoft Office from updating automatically is to use the Local Group Policy Editor. All you need to do is go to the ‘Enable automatic updates’ policy and set it to Off. Let’s check the steps in detail:
Note: The Local Group Policy Editor is only available for Windows Pro and Enterprise editions. You will get ‘gpedit.msc missing error’ when trying to access it on Windows Home. To get rid of this error and access the Local Group Policy Editor on Windows Home, check out our guide on fixing missing gpedit.msc.
Step 1: Use the link below to download the ‘Admin Template File (ADMX/ADML) for Office Applications.’
Step 2: Open the downloaded EXE file.
Step 3: Select the location you want to extract the content and click OK.
Step 4: Go to where you extracted the content and open the admx folder.
Step 5: Press the shortcut Ctrl + A to select all the files in the admx folder, then press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C to copy them.
Step 6: Press the Windows + E keyboard shortcut to open File Explorer.
Step 7: Open C drive.
Step 8: Double click on the Windows folder.
Step 9: Open the PolicyDefinitions folder.
Step 10: Press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V to paste the copied content into the PolicyDefinations folder.
Step 11: Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run tool.
Step 12: Enter gpedit.msc in the search bar and press Enter.
Step 13: In the Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the following location:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office 2016\Update
Step 14: Double-click the ‘Enable Automatic Updates’ policy in the right pane.
Step 15: Select Disabled. Then click Apply and OK.
Take control of your Office apps
It’s great to have control over your apps, and Microsoft Office is no different. If you want to prevent Microsoft Office from automatically updating, you can use the methods above.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
