Steps to Configure Active Hours in Windows 10

Nobody likes a sudden PC restart when installing updates, especially when you are working on something important. It could waste your time or delete the unsaved data, which could be crucial sometimes. Do you want to stop it from happening in the future? You can use Active hours feature in Windows 10 to control it. This will stop the unexpected restart of PC.

With the feature, you can determine the time when you want your PC to let you work and restart your computer for available updates outside the set active hours.

If your system needs a restart for an update to work, it will happen after active hours. In this post, we will discuss how to configure and use Active hours in Windows 10.

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How To Configure Active Hours on Windows 10

You can configure active hours in three ways.

Method 1: Use Settings To Configure Active Hours (The Easiest Way)

You can configure Active hours by using the Settings menu, follow these steps:

Step 1: Press Windows and I key to launch Settings.

Step 2: Click Update & Security.

Step 3:  Click Change active hours.

Step 4: You will get a window, wherein you can set start time and end time for active hours.

After you enter the start time and end time. Now restart will never happen within this time.

Click Save it & close it.

Note: You can choose the minimum amount of time up to 18 hours. If you enter time which exceeds the time limit, then it will be invalid.

If you enter any time that exceeds the allowed time limit, it will be marked as invalid. So, make sure to check it once before pressing the Save button.

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Method 2: Use Registry Settings:

You can configure Active hours in Windows 10 using the Registry editor. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Press Windows and R key to get the Run window. Type regedit to get Registry Editor.

Step 2: Navigate to the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->SOFTWARE->Microsoft->WindowsUpdate->UX->Settings

Step 3: You will get two options – ‘ActiveHoursStart’ & ‘ActiveHoursEnd’

Step 4: You have to change them by clicking the individual option.

You can modify the Active hours’’ settings of PC via the registry editor.

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Method 3: Use Group Policy

You can also configure active hours using Group Policy Editor on Windows 10. Follow these steps to configure Active hours by using Group Policy.

Step 1: Press Windows and R key to get a Run window, type gpedit.msc to open Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2: Local Computer Policy->Computer Configuration-> Administrative Templates-> Windows Components-> Windows Updates.

Step 3: You will get a list of settings of updates. Locate ‘Turn off auto-restart for updates during active hours’ and click it to get a window.  You can change Active Hours Start & End. Locate Enabled option.

Step 4: Click OK.

The minimum active range is eight hours, you can’t enter hours less than minimum hours.

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Conclusion

In this way, you can configure Active hours and never let Windows update restart disturb you while working or hamper your productivity. You can use any of these methods to configure active hours.

Home users can use Windows Settings to customize active hours in Windows 10, however, for business users, it is better to use group policy editor and registry editor to configure these settings.