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Manage device restarts after updates
In this articleLooking for consumer information? See Windows Update: FAQ You can use Group Policy settings, mobile device management (MDM), or Registry (not recommended) to configure when devices will restart after a Windows update is installed. You can schedule update installation and set policies for restart, configure active hours for when restarts won't occur, or you can do both. Schedule update installationIn Group Policy, within Configure Automatic Updates, you can configure a forced restart after a specified installation time. To set the time, you need to go to Configure Automatic Updates, select option 4 - Auto download and schedule the install, and then enter a time in the Scheduled install time dropdown. Alternatively, you can specify that installation occurs during the automatic maintenance time (configured using Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Maintenance Scheduler). Always automatically restart at the scheduled time forces a restart after the specified installation time and lets you configure a timer to warn a signed-in user that a restart is going to occur. While not recommended, the same result can be achieved through Registry. Under HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU, set AuOptions to 4, set the install time with ScheduledInstallTime, enable AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime and specify the delay in minutes through AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTimeMinutes. Similar to Group Policy, AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTimeMinutes sets the timer to warn a signed-in user that a restart is going to occur. For a detailed description of these registry keys, see . Delay automatic rebootWhen Configure Automatic Updates is enabled in Group Policy, you can also enable one of the following policies to delay an automatic reboot after update installation:
Note When using Remote Desktop Protocol connections, only active RDP sessions are considered as logged on users. Devices that do not have locally logged on users, or active RDP sessions, will be restarted. You can also use Registry, to prevent automatic restarts when a user is signed in. Under HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU, set AuOptions to 4 and enable NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers. As with Group Policy, if a user schedules the restart in the update notification, it overrides this setting. For a detailed description of these registry keys, see . Configure active hoursActive hours identify the period of time when you expect the device to be in use. Automatic restarts after an update occur outside of the active hours. By default, active hours are from 8 AM to 5 PM on PCs and from 5 AM to 11 PM on phones. Users can change the active hours manually. Starting with Windows 10, version 1703, you can also specify the max active hours range. The specified range is counted from the active hours start time. Administrators can use multiple ways to set active hours for managed devices:
Configuring active hours with Group PolicyTo configure active hours using Group Policy, go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update and open the Turn off auto-restart for updates during active hours policy setting. When the policy is enabled, you can set the start and end times for active hours.  Configuring active hours with MDMMDM uses the and settings in the Policy CSP to configure active hours. Configuring active hours through RegistryThis method isn't recommended, and should only be used when you can't use Group Policy or MDM. Any settings configured through Registry may conflict with any existing configuration that uses any of the methods mentioned above. Configure active hours by setting a combination of the following registry values: Under HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate use SetActiveHours to enable or disable active hours and ActiveHoursStart and ActiveHoursEnd to specify the range of active hours. For a detailed description of these registry keys, see . Note To configure active hours manually on a single device, go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update and select Change active hours. Configuring active hours max rangeWith Windows 10, version 1703, administrators can specify the max active hours range users can set. This option gives you additional flexibility to leave some of the decision for active hours on the user's side, while making sure you allow enough time for updating. The max range is calculated from active hours start time. To configure active hours max range through Group Policy, go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update and open the Specify active hours range for auto-restarts. To configure active hours max range through MDM, use . Limit restart delaysAfter an update is installed, Windows attempts automatic restart outside of active hours. If the restart doesn't succeed after seven days (by default), the user will see a notification that restart is required. You can use the Specify deadline before auto-restart for update installation policy to change the delay from seven days to any number of days between 2 and 14. Control restart notificationsDisplay options for update notificationsStarting in Windows 10 version 1809, you can define which Windows Update notifications are displayed to the user. This policy doesn't control how and when updates are downloaded and installed. You can use Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Display options for update notifications with these values: 0 (default) - Use the default Windows Update notifications 1 - Turn off all notifications, excluding restart warnings 2 - Turn off all notifications, including restart warnings To configure this behavior through MDM, use . Starting in Windows 11, version 22H2, Apply only during active hours was added as an additional option for Display options for update notifications. When Apply only during active hours is selected, the notifications will only be disabled during active hours when options To configure this behavior through MDM, use . Auto restart notificationsAdministrators can override the default behavior for the auto restart required notification. By default, this notification dismisses automatically. This setting was added in Windows 10, version 1703. To configure this behavior through Group Policy, go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update and select Configure auto-restart required notification for updates. When configured to 2 - User Action, a user that gets this notification must manually dismiss it. To configure this behavior through MDM, use You can also configure the period prior to an update that this notification shows up. The default value is 15 minutes. To change it through Group Policy, select Configure auto-restart-reminder notifications for updates under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update and select the period in minutes. To change it through MDM, use . In some cases, you don't need a notification to show up. To do so through Group Policy, go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update and select Turn off auto-restart notifications for update installations. To do so through MDM, use . Scheduled auto restart warningsSince users aren't able to postpone a scheduled restart once the deadline has been reached, you can configure a warning reminder prior to the scheduled restart. You can also configure a warning prior to the restart, to notify users once the restart is imminent and allow them to save their work. To configure both through Group Policy, find Configure auto-restart warning notifications schedule for updates under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update. The warning reminder can be configured by Reminder (hours) and the warning prior to an imminent auto restart can be configured by Warning (mins). In MDM, the warning reminder is configured using and the auto restart imminent warning is configured using . Engaged restartEngaged restart is the period of time when users are required to schedule a restart. Initially, Windows auto-restarts outside of working hours. Once the set period ends (seven days by default), Windows transitions to user scheduled restarts. The following settings can be adjusted for engaged restart:
In Group Policy, go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update and pick Specify Engaged restart transition and notification schedule for updates. In MDM, use , and respectively. Group Policy settings for restartIn the Group Policy editor, you'll see policy settings that pertain to restart behavior in Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update. The following table shows which policies apply to Windows 10. Policy Applies to Windows 10 Notes Turn off auto-restart for updates during active hours Yes Use this policy to configure active hours, during which the device won't be restarted. This policy has no effect if the No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations or Always automatically restart at the scheduled time policies are enabled. Always automatically restart at the scheduled time Yes Use this policy to configure a restart timer (between 15 and 180 minutes) that will start immediately after Windows Update installs important updates. This policy has no effect if the No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations policy is enabled. Specify deadline before auto-restart for update installation Yes Use this policy to specify how many days (between 2 and 14) an automatic restart can be delayed. This policy has no effect if the No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations or Always automatically restart at the scheduled time policies are enabled. No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations Yes Use this policy to prevent automatic restart when a user is logged on. This policy applies only when the Configure Automatic Updates policy is configured to perform scheduled installations of updates. Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations No Delay Restart for scheduled installations No Reschedule Automatic Updates scheduled installations No Note You can only choose one path for restart behavior. If you set conflicting restart policies, the actual restart behavior may not be what you expected. When using RDP, only active RDP sessions are considered as logged on users. Registry keys used to manage restartThe following tables list registry values that correspond to the Group Policy settings for controlling restarts after updates in Windows 10. |
