Forced updates are Windows 10's boldest feature. While you no longer have to worry about updates, mandatory updates can make life more difficult for those who like to tweak their system. And you won't ever be safe from faulty updates.

When you're using non-standard hardware, this process can introduce issues. Moreover, drivers provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) are not always the best solution. If you'd like to keep your custom drivers or if you're not keen on updating a running system, let us show you how to lock in your drivers.

Undo and Temporarily Prevent Driver Updates

Microsoft admits that "in rare cases, a specific driver or update might temporarily cause issues with your device." Here are your options when you're dealing with a troublesome driver or update.

Roll Back Driver

First, you need to remove the irksome driver. The best option is to roll back to the previous version. Right-click the Start button, select Device Manager, right-click the respective device, select Properties, switch to the Driver tab, and click the Roll Back Driver button.

Windows 10 Roll Back Driver

When you're done, move on to blocking the automatic driver update, which will inevitably be initiated during the next Windows Update cycle.

Remove and Replace Driver

Should the rollback option not be available, a workaround is to uninstall the driver and replace it with your preferred version. Before you proceed, obtain the desired driver version from the OEM or a third-party supplier.

Note that some manufacturers offer utilities to uninstall old drivers, ensuring a clean removal of all driver-related files from your computer.

If you need to manually remove the driver, right-click the Start button, select Device Manager, right-click the affected device, and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 Uninstall Device Driver

In the following dialog, check the box Delete the driver software for this device and confirm with OK. This removes the driver file from Windows Update.

Windows 10 Uninstall Device and Delete Driver

Next, you need to block future updates for this driver.

Block Driver Update

To prevent this driver from being reinstalled the next time Windows Update runs, you can use the Show or Hide Updates Troubleshooter.

Download and run the troubleshooter, on the first screen click Next, then select Hide updates, check the driver/s you would like to hide, click Next again, and you're done.

Windows 10 Show or Hide Updates to Prevent Update Installation

You can reverse this setting. Select Show hidden updates from the troubleshooter, check the update/s you want to unhide, and click Next.

How to Stop Automatic Driver Updates

To stop Windows 10 from automatically updating your drivers, you have several options. Note that the Local Group Policy Editor is generally not available to Windows 10 Home users.

Control Panel

For this solution, you need to head into System Properties. Right-click the Windows Start button and select System. In the System Settings menu, scroll down and select Advanced system settings.

In the System Properties window, switch to the Hardware tab and click Device Installation Settings.

System Properties

You will be asked whether "you want to automatically download manufacturers' apps and custom icons available for your devices." Select No and Save Changes.

Windows 10 Device Installation Settings

Note that if it works, this setting disables all your driver updates.

Local Group Policy Editor

On Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise editions only, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor to disable updates entirely. Though, you might be successful in making the Group Policy Editor available on Windows Home. Some users report that this is the only setting that worked for them. The advantage of this method is that you can also disable updates for selected devices only.

First, you need to collect the device IDs for hardware you don't want Windows to manage for you. This could be your graphics or sound card ID.

Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager. Double-click the respective device, switch to the Details tab, and select Hardware Ids from the drop-down menu under Property. Using one of the values in the next step should be sufficient.

Windows 10 Driver Hardware IDs

Now we'll head into the Local Group Policy Editor to exclude these devices from Windows Update.

Press Win + R, enter gpedit.msc, and hit Enter. In your Local Group Policy Editor, head to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions. Here, double-click on the setting Prevent installation of devices that match any of these device IDs.

Local Group Policy Editor

Enable the Setting, click the Show button, then for each device, enter its Value, and finally OK all your changes.

Prevent Driver Installation

Note: Once you have restricted a driver using the Group Policy Editor, you won't be able to manually update that driver. To change a restricted driver, you need to disable the setting in the Group Policy Editor, make your changes, then enable the restriction again.

Alternatively, if you would like to disable all driver updates, you can also Enable the setting to Prevent installation of devices not described by other policy settings. However, we recommend only blocking updates for selected drivers, as described above.

Registry

The Windows registry is your last resort. Press Win + R to launch the Run dialog, enter regedit, and hit Enter. Now navigate to this registry string:

        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching
    

Open the SearchOrderConfig value and set Value data to 0. Confirm with OK and reboot your computer.

Windows 10 Registry Editor SearchOrderConfig

Like other methods described above, this setting disables all driver updates and should only be used if Microsoft's troubleshooter does not allow you to hide specific updates from Windows Update.

Pause Windows Update

If all else fails, you can always pause Windows Update. However, you can no longer stop updates indefinitely. Microsoft has set a limit of 35 days.

To pause Windows Update, head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Your first option is to Pause updates for 7 days. This gives you (or Microsoft) a whole week to sort out the issue.

Windows 10 Pause Windows Update

If you need more time, click Advanced options, scroll down to Pause updates, and select a date from the drop-down menu.

Windows 10 Advanced Options Pause Updates

The maximum is 35 days. The date you choose will be your Windows Update point-of-no-return; you will then be forced to install all pending updates. Only after you installed them will you be able to pause updates again.

Keep Your Drivers Under Control

A corrupted Windows driver update can bring down entire workflows and keep you busy all day. We've shown you how to prevent or reverse driver issues caused by automatic updates in Windows 10. This is not to say that all updates are bad, though.

Updating your drivers is essential for maintaining performance, security, and accessing new features. When you do block automatic updates, remember to manually check for critical driver updates every once in a while.