Windows 10 Professional (For Windows 10 Home – Click Here)
To stop Windows 10 upgrading to Windows 11, Press Windows Key-R to run a command and type gpedit.msc and press Enter. The following windows will display.
Browse to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business
The Double-Click “Select the target Feature Update Version”. the following window will be displayed.
Click on Enabled, then type Windows 10 and 21H2 in the fields where highlighted. Click on OK. Windows 10 will now be prevented from upgrading to Windows 11.
Please note, Version “21H2” is the most current version as of writing this document (03/2022). As more versions are released, “21H2” will need to be changed to be able to enable updates to the latest when released.
Windows 10 Home
In the Run box, type regedit and press Enter
You will see a “User Account Control” prompt. Select “Yes” in this prompt to continue.
When the Registry Editor opens, from the sidebar to the left, navigate to the following directory:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
Note: If you don’t see the final “WindowsUpdate” directory, right-click the “Windows” directory and choose New > Key. Then type “WindowsUpdate” and press Enter to create the directory.
On the right pane, double-click the “TargetReleaseVersion” entry to open it. If you don’t see this entry, then in the right pane, right-click anywhere blank and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Then type “TargetReleaseVersion” (without quotes) and press Enter to create the entry.
In the “Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value” box that opens, click the “Value Data” field and enter “1” (without quotes). Then select “OK.”
Once again, on the right pane, double-click the “TargetReleaseVersionInfo” entry. If you don’t see it, then right-click anywhere blank on the right pane and choose New > String Value. Type “TargetReleaseVersionInfo” (without quotes) and press Enter to make the entry.
Here we’re going to enter the release update that we want to remain on. At the time of writing, the latest Windows 10 release is the 21H2 update. To determine the current version, review the official Microsoft documentation on the latest version of Windows 10.
On the “Edit String” box, click the “Value Data” field and type “21H2” (without quotes), or whatever your preferred release is. Then click “OK.”
Close the Registry Editor and restart your Windows 10 PC. You’re all set.
Your Windows 10 PC will block any updates after the update you entered, which includes the Windows 11 update. The downside to this method is that you will have to keep updating the release value to represent the latest Windows 10 updates.
Please note, Version “21H2” is the most current version as of writing this document (03/2022). As more versions are released, “21H2” will need to be changed to be able to enable updates to the latest when released.