Most Windows updates, to complete their installation, require restarting the computer. When we do, before shutting down, the operating system installs the update and makes any changes it needs to make. And then, when the PC starts up again, it finishes performing the pending tasks, prepares the PC and, finally, shows us our desktop. This process, in addition to causing problems, usually takes several minutes. And there are times when we simply don’t have that time.
Windows 7 allowed users to restart and shutdown the computer without installing pending updates . However, this possibility disappeared with Windows 8, and with Windows 10 it did not return. Until now. One of the new features of the 2004 version of Windows 10, May 2020 Update, which has gone unnoticed is precisely a way to allow users to restart Windows without installing pending updates.
In this way, users who have Windows Update automatic updates activated, if they do not have time to update, will be able to turn off or restart the computer without installing these patches. And this same feature works for big biannual updates too, feature updates that take so long to install.
New options in the shutdown menu
The fastest way to shutdown or restart Windows 10 without installing updates is to do so from the usual shutdown menu. If we already have the May 2020 Update installed, when we have a pending update on our computer, when we turn off the PC we can see that these two new options appear.
As we can see, we will have two different options to turn off and restart the computer. If we want to install the updates we will have to select the option ” Update and shutdown ” or “Update and restart”, while if we do not want to install these new updates we will be able to shutdown or restart without installing them.
With this, one of the biggest complaints of Windows 10 comes to an end. And last but not least, we have other ways to turn off the computer without installing these updates, in case we don’t like to use the start menu.
Windows shutdown menu
Another section from which we can turn off or restart the computer without installing the latest updates is the Close Windows panel. This menu appears when we press the keyboard shortcut Alt + F4 while being directly on the desktop. If we are in any other window or program, using this keyboard shortcut will close it. We must make sure we are at the desk before pressing it.
Just like from the start menu, here the two new options will appear when we have downloaded updates pending to be installed in Windows 10. Thus, we will be able to turn off the computer without updating, or take the opportunity to install the latest updates, whichever comes least.
What to do if I can’t shutdown without updating
This feature is only available to users starting with Windows 10 May 2020 Update. This means that all updates, including the 2004 version of Windows 10, will have to be installed without this possibility.
If we cannot afford to download and install updates due to time constraints, or because we cannot take risks, we will always have the possibility of postponing updates from Windows Update . To do this, we will open the Windows Update window and from there we can choose the possibility to pause the updates for several days.
Likewise, within the advanced options, we will be able to choose the number of days that we want to postpone Windows updates. For security updates, Microsoft allows us to delay them for up to 30 days. But feature updates can be delayed for up to a year. So we can wait for the best time to download and install updates and update our PC.
