Group Policy to control updates on Win11

On Win10 & Win11 I have the Group Policy
Computer Configuration>Windows Components>Windows Updates>Configure Automatic Updates set to 2.

On Win10 on the Windows Update page in Settings there is a comment in red saying "Some settings are managed by your organization" . On Win11 there is no similar message. And just to confuse things a bit, the option "Pause for 1 week" is set even though I did not set it.

How can I tell if the group policy is actually working? I installed Win11 on a test PC just yesterday - not enough time to see if this works. I've also go Win11 on a Surface Pro tablet (pre-installed) but have manually installed maintenance too often to tell if it's the policy or the 1 week delay that's in effect.

Win11 21H2 build 22000.556
Win10 21H1 build 19043.1526

pokeefe0001 said:

On Win10 on the Windows Update page in Settings there is a comment in red saying "Some settings are managed by your organization" . On Win11 there is no similar message.

...How can I tell if the group policy is actually working?

Click to expand...

I think Microsoft got tired of people asking "Who is this 'organization'? I'm the only user on this PC !".

Look in Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Configured update policies.



And for others looking to set this particular group policy, in W11's Group Policy Editor it's now found in:
Computer Configuration>Windows Components>Windows Update>Manage end user experience>Configure Automatic Updates

Oh, yeah. I forgot that extra "Manage end user experience" they stuck in. I did "manage" to find that.

Use Option 7 and yes it works on W11 too.

Bree said:

I think Microsoft got tired of people asking "Who is this 'organization'? I'm the only user on this PC !".

Click to expand...

I've always assume (based on ignorance) that Group Policies were developed for the Active Directory environment and we non-AD users were lucky to get it at all. In the AD environment the message makes sense.

On the other hand the message could have been "Some settings are managed by administrative policy" and it would work for both environments. But Microsoft forgot to ask my opinion.

pokeefe0001 said:

I've always assume (based on ignorance) that Group Policies were developed for the Active Directory environment....

Click to expand...

I think you are correct. If you download the Group Policy Settings Reference Spreadsheet you'll see that some polices are supported as far back as Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. And Windows 2000 was when support for AD was first introduced.

Hey people,

I have this set to option 2 as well and it works until Microsoft want to override it, but that only seems to happen if an update is put off for too long and that's acceptable for me at this time.

My issue is, it is also controlling the "security Intelligence Update(s) for Microsoft Defender Antivirus" so I have to manaully allow that update every time.

Is there a way to allow the definitions to update without my interaction while keeping the rest as set in the policy?