How To Block The Windows 10 Upgrade Forever

Over the past few months, Microsoft has aggressively stepped up its campaign to get people to upgrade to Windows 10. Last week, the company made a sneaky change to its pop-up reminder. Closing this window no longer dismisses the update; instead it automatically schedules an installation, often without the user realising what they agreed to. If you’re sick of having Windows 10 pushed on you all the time, here’s how to stop those incessant reminders.

This post originally appeared on Lifehacker.

There are many reasons you might not want to upgrade to Windows 10. Maybe your PC doesn’t run as fast as its specifications suggest and you don’t want to cripple it with the new OS. Maybe you use lots of older applications that haven’t been properly optimised yet. Or maybe you just don’t like companies telling you what to to.

Never10 is a third-party tool built specifically to block Windows 10 from installing itself on your PC. The tool is free and doesn’t require installation.

Be warned: the site’s front end looks dodgy as can be, but it comes recommended by numerous trusted websites including PC Advisor, PC World and Lifehacker US. To disable the Windows 10 installer, you simply click on a button and it makes the necessary changes to your PC. You can also remove previously downloaded Windows 10 installation files clogging up space on your system. Head here for more information.

Alternatively, here is Microsoft’s own recommendations for turning off its pop-up notifications:

If you no longer want to receive pop-up notifications for the free upgrade offer, you can turn off notifications and hide the GWX app. If you do not wish to upgrade, then prior to taking the following steps to turn off notifications, you should also confirm that you have canceled any scheduled upgrade by following these instructions. (Note: If your upgrade is already scheduled, the reminder that occurs 15 minutes before the upgrade starts will appear even if notifications have been turned off.)
 

  1. Right-click (or press and hold) the Taskbar, and then select Properties.
  2. On the Taskbar tab, go down to the Notification area and select Customize…
  3. In the Notification Area Icons window, for the GWX icon, select Hide icon and notifications.

You can also manually schedule an upgrade well into the future to stop the pop ups. Incidentally Windows 10 has already installed itself on your PC and you want to get rid of it, you have 30 days to revert to your previous OS. Here’s how it’s done.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.