How to disable automatic driver downloads on Windows 11

Method 1 of 3

1. Press Windows Key +I on your keyboard to open Settings in Windows 11 then click the About tab (1);

2. Select Advanced system settings (2);

3. Switch to the Hardware (3) tab;
4. Click on the Device Installation Settings (4) button;

5. Select the No (your device might not work as expected) (5) radio button to disable automatic driver downloads;
6. Click the Save Changes (6) button;

Method 2 of 3 (Windows Registry)

1. Press the Windows + S keys to open the Windows Search;
2. In the search bar, type Registry Editor and choose Open (1) from the right pane;

3. User Account Control, Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device? Click Yes (2);

4. Go to the following key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching (3) then double-click on SearchOrderConfig (4);

5. Change the value to 0. Click the OK button;

6. Close the Registry Editor then reboot your PC to apply the change.

Method 3 of 3 (Edit group policy, available for Windows 11 Pro or Windows Enterprise)

1. Press the Windows + S keys to open the Windows Search;
2. In the search bar, type Edit group policy and choose Open (1) from the right pane;

3. In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Manage updates offered from Windows Update (2) then double-click on Do not include drivers with Windows Updates (3);

4. Select the Enabled (4) option and then click the Apply button.