Here is a quick tip on how to keep your Windows 10 machine on a specific release or feature update version even when connected to Windows Update.
Prerequsites
- Must be on 1803 and newer (make sure on the latest CU update as of June 2020)
- Must be have Professional, Education or Enterprise License
- If using Group Policy make sure you are using the latest templates for your domain
In the example below, the Windows 10 machine would stay on build 2004 and will not upgrade past this version.
Method 1: Group Policy
- Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for business > Select the target Feature Update version.
- Set to Enabled and type in the desired target version
Method 2: Registry
Create two registry values under the path
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
- TargetReleaseVersion = 1 (Reg_Dword, Decimal)
- TargetReleaseVersionInfo = 2004 (Reg_String, Decimal)
Quick Lookup Table
| Build Version | TargetReleaseVersionInfo |
| 1803 | 1803 |
| 1809 | 1809 |
| 1903 | 1903 |
| 1909 | 1909 |
| 2004 | 2004 |
| 20H2 / 2009 | 2009 |
Add registry keys via CMD
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /f /v TargetReleaseVersion /t REG_DWORD /d 1
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /f /v TargetReleaseVersionInfo /t REG_SZ /d 2004How it looks like in Windows Registry
How it looks like on the client machine. Your system will check for upgrades by default every 18 hours. If your machine is on the version specified it will stay on that version, if it is behind it will reach and upgrade to the version that is specified.
