How can I get Windows to stop ignoring my Active Hours settings?

Hello ,

I’m here to help you in resolving your issue

Yes, you are right. Windows Active Hours only controls when your device restarts (C), not when it downloads (A) or installs (B) updates. And yes, (B) can massively impact performance, especially on older or busy systems.

Set Network as Metered :

This workaround can throttle Windows Update without needing Pro edition:

1. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi (or Ethernet)
2. Click your network name > Turn on “Set as metered connection”

What it does:

Prevents most automatic downloading of updates

Windows will ask you before downloading large updates (unless marked "critical")

After trying above steps, please reach out to me if you have any doubts or issues

Hello,

Active Hours only applies to Step C, the restart portion, and not Steps A and B. It's even said on Keep your PC up to date with active hours - Microsoft Support.

The only ways to prevent Windows from even downloading or installing the updates is to either:

A. Change your network to a metered network. That way, your PC only installs the most critical updates.

B. Pausing Windows Updates. This option isn't really practical since you have to go in and unpause the updates every time you actually want them to install.

Hope this helps.

Your original post has several things that are not correct. I'll address the most important one first:

Active Hours only applies to [INSTALLED], which is only 20 minutes or so.

Active Hours can last for up to 18 contiguous hours. My Active Hours are set to start at 7 AM and end at 1 AM the next morning.

[INSTALLED] takes several HOURS

Except for new versions of Windows, like Windows 11 24H2, installing updates needs just a few minutes. What can take a long time is that Windows waits for you to stop actively using computer. That's not the only thing Windows keeps 'on hold' until you are not actively using the computer, so as to make the most of your computer's resources available for you. It also performs virus scans, indexing, disk cleanup, disk optimizing, and backups, among other activities.

Is switching to inconvenient Manual Update the only way I can get Windows to avoid (A) and (B) during Active Hours?

There's no supported method for doing manual updates. Many have published their ideas on how to do this, but performing unsupported maneuvers on an operating system is like a trapeze artist working without a net.

Both [DOWNLOADED] and [INSTALLED] happen in the background, when you are not actively using your computer.

At first I thought you had something different in mind:

Even during your Active Hours, when your computer is not supposed to be restarted to finish installing an update, if Windows 'senses' that you may not be actively using your computer - maybe it thinks you're taking a lunch break - it will pop up a notification asking for a restart. If you're at your computer to see the notification, you can tell Windows "not now" and even pick a better time. Otherwise, Windows will eventually restart your computer. While I'm not crazy about this myself, I understand why they do it this way.

OK, I will give this Metered Network approach a try. What I really want is for Windows to DO automatic updates but NOT during active hours. But if that's not possible, maybe this is the next best thing. When Windows asks about downloading, could I just let that prompt sit there until I've finished the day's work, then tell Windows to go ahead? Guess I would have to leave the PC awake.