Change Windows 10 active hours to prevent sudden reboots

• To change active hours on Windows 10, open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, click “Change active hours,” turn off “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity,” click “Change,” configure the new time range, and click “Save.”
• To make active hours automatic, turn on “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity” on the “Change active hours” page.

On Windows 10, it’s possible to configure “active hours” automatically or manually to specify a custom time range to prevent restarts when you’re actively using the computer, and in this guide, I’ll teach how.

System updates are mandatory, so you cannot permanently disable the feature. Although this is a good approach to keep devices updated and protected, the problem comes when you’re working on an important document, and suddenly Windows 10 decides to restart automatically to finish installing new updates.

“Active hours” is a feature that allows scheduling a time (up to 18 hours) to tell the system when you will be actively using the device to prevent automatic reboots. On Windows 10, “active hours” works automatically, but you can change the settings to block the system from restarting at a custom time range.

In this guide, I will outline the steps to configure active hours to prevent Windows 10 sudden restarts.

• Change active hours on Windows 10 (manually)
• Change active hours on Windows 10 (automatically)

Change active hours on Windows 10 (manually)

To select different active hours manually on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

2. Click on Update & Security.

3. Click on Windows Update.

4. Click the “Change active hours” option.

   

5. Turn off the “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity” toggle switch.

6. Click the Change option.

   

7. Specify when the active hours should start to prevent Windows 10 from restarting automatically.

   

8. Specify when the active hours should end to allow the system to restart automatically if necessary.

9. Click the Save button.

Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 won’t restart automatically to apply updates during the time range you specified in the Windows Update settings. 

Change active hours on Windows 10 (automatically)

To enable automatic active hours on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Click on Update & Security.

3. Click on Windows Update.

4. Click the “Change active hours” option.

   

5. Turn on the “Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity” toggle switch.

   

After you complete the steps, the system will configure the “active hours” settings automatically, depending on how you use the device.