How to Enable or Disable “Include Drivers with Windows Updates” in Windows 11

For user convenience, Windows 11 also updates hardware drivers when installing standard updates through the Windows Update feature. While the main intention is ease and efficiency, some system administrators may want more control over driver management.

This preference is evident in enterprise environments, so understanding how to manage “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates” is vital for those who manage endpoints at scale or where administrators prefer OEM-supplied drivers. In this guide, we’ll explain several methods for enabling or disabling the “do not include drivers with Windows Updates” setting.

How to manage “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates”

Before you proceed, here are some requirements your system should meet:

• Administrative rights. Administrator privileges are required for Group Policy or Registry changes.
• Group Policy Editor availability. The Group Policy Editor is available only on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. Ensure you’re using any of these Windows 11 editions.
• Windows Update. Your devices must be using Windows Update as the update source (not WSUS/Intune only)
• Reboot or ‘gpupdate’. Restarting your system or running gpupdate /force is required to ensure your settings are properly enforced.

Method 1: Using the Settings app (limited availability)

This option is only partially visible in the Device installation settings dialog on some builds.

1. Press the Windows key + R, type:  control /name Microsoft.DeviceInstallation
2. In the Device Installation Settings window, select:
   • Yes (recommended) – to allow driver downloads with updates
   • No – to block drivers from being included

⚠️ Note: This setting is not available on newer Windows 11 builds (including 22H2 and 23H2) and will not persist if overridden by Group Policy or MDM policies.

Method 2: Enable or disable via Group Policy (recommended for Enterprise)

This method is most effective for domain-joined or managed devices.

1. Open the Group Policy Editor by pressing the Windows key + R. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
2. Navigate to:  Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update
3. Locate and double-click Do not include drivers with Windows Updates
4. Set the policy to:
   • Enabled – Prevents Windows Update from including drivers
   • Disabled or Not Configured – Allows drivers to be installed via Windows Update
5. Click Apply, then close the Group Policy window.
6. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run: gpupdate /force

⚠️ Note: This setting is limited only to Windows 11 Enterprise editions.

Method 3: Using the Registry Editor

This method is equivalent to the Group Policy setting and works on all editions of Windows.

1. Open the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows key + R. Type regedit and press Enter.
2. Navigate to:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
   • If the WindowsUpdate key does not exist, create it manually.
3. Right-click in the right pane and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named:
   ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate
4. Set its value to:
   • 1 = Disable driver updates through Windows Update
   • 0 = Enable driver updates
5. Close the Registry Editor and reboot your PC.

Method 4: Verifying and applying via PowerShell

PowerShell can be used to verify and deploy the policy, which is especially helpful in scripts or automated system configurations.

1. Press the Windows key and type PowerShell.
2. From the search results, right-click PowerShell and choose Run as administrator from the context menu.
3. Run the following:
   • To check the current setting:
     Get-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate”
     -Name ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate
   • To apply the setting via script:
     Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate” `
     -Name ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate -Type DWord -Value 1

This approach is ideal for enterprise deployments or configuration tasks managed via Intune, SCCM, or endpoint scripts.

Why manage driver delivery via Windows Update?

System administrators may want better control over how Windows includes hardware driver updates when pushing updates through the Windows Update platform. Other than that, here are some of the most common reasons why they prefer to manage driver delivery.

• System administrators may want to halt Windows from replacing a manufacturer-tuned driver with a generic one. Managing driver delivery via Windows Update helps prevent the automatic overwriting of custom or OEM drivers.
• Generic driver updates may not have been thoroughly tested for specific hardware configurations. Disabling automatic driver updates helps avoid instability caused by generic driver updates.
• Enterprises often validate specific driver versions before deployment. Managing delivery allows IT teams to lock in tested versions across devices.
• Controlling driver updates helps reduce driver-related issues in production environments or during upgrade cycles.

Additional considerations for changing driver updates in Windows Updates

There are factors you need to consider first when managing “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates” settings:

• When using WSUS or Intune: Devices configured to receive updates from WSUS may already have driver delivery suppressed and controlled via centralized policies, deeming the registry or GPO settings dysfunctional.
• With OEM drivers: Always validate OEM or critical driver versions before allowing Windows to update them.
• Audit environment: Utilize Get-WindowsUpdateLog or Event Viewer to check if unwanted driver updates were installed.
• Driver control: Combine the “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates” setting with Device Installation Restrictions in GPO for maximum driver policy enforcement.

Managing “Do not include drivers with Windows Updates” setting

Maintaining driver consistency is enhanced when system administrators have appropriate control over whether Windows Update delivers drivers. This policy, which can streamline IT workflow, can be configured via Group Policy, the registry, and limited GUI methods depending on the environment.

Group Policy is recommended for enforcing driver exclusion in enterprise environments. Meanwhile, the Registry Editor can be utilized to configure scriptable or Home Edition configurations. Additionally, system administrators can validate driver installation behavior via PowerShell or Windows logs. Applying any of these, along with other driver policies, can help restrict unauthorized driver modifications.