How to Disable Auto Update of Store Apps in Windows 10/11

Windows Store apps are automatically updated to the latest version by default, and that’s the recommended setting. Sometimes you’d like to disable automatic updating to save bandwidth and traffic, especially when you’re on a slow connection or evaluating Windows 10/11 on a Virtual Machine.

Also, if most of those installed apps aren’t used frequently (other than the few important ones), that’s another reason to turn off the auto-update feature. You can always update all or specific apps on-demand manually via Windows Store Settings.

Disable Automatic Updating of Store apps

Open Microsoft Store, click your user account icon at the top, and click Settings.

In the new Microsoft Store app, the option is named “App settings”

Toggle off the “App updates” radio button.

Updating Windows Store apps manually

To update Windows Store apps manually when needed:

1. Open Microsoft Store.
2. In the new Microsoft Store app, click on the “Library” option in the left pane.
3. Click the “Get updates” button.
   
4. This lists the recent Microsoft Store activity (installation & updates) for your user account. Click the “Get updates” button, which shows the list of available updates at the top.
5. You can either click “Update all” to update all listed apps or select a particular app in the list and click Update.

While you may have your reasons to turn off automatic updating of Store apps, at the same time, you must also make sure you’re not running outdated or insecure versions of the apps.