Policy

Always automatically restart at the scheduled time

Windows 11 25H2

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Policy overview

Key metadata and intent for this policy.

ClassComputer
CategoryWindows Components > Windows Update > Legacy Policies
Supported onAt least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT

Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016

If you enable this policy, a restart timer will always begin immediately after Windows Update installs important updates, instead of first notifying users on the login screen for at least two days. The restart timer can be configured to start with any value from 15 to 180 minutes. When the timer runs out, the restart will proceed even if the PC has signed-in users. If you disable or do not configure this policy, Windows Update will not alter its restart behavior. If the "No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations" policy is enabled, then this policy has no effect.

Internal name
AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime
Policy ID
05bf64a69188
Elements
1

Registry values

How enabled and disabled states update the registry.

Registry locationTypeEnabled valueDisabled value
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU\AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTimeREG_DWORD
1
0

Policy elements

Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.

ElementTypeRegistry mappingConstraints & behavior
work (minutes):
ID AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime_Minutes
decimal
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU\AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTimeMinutes
Type REG_DWORD
Range: 15 to 180

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