How to stop windows 10 from uploading updates to other pcs over the internet

How to Stop Windows 10 From Uploading Updates to Other PCs Over the Internet

Traditionally, the updates for any Windows device were delivered directly from Microsoft’s Windows Update servers. While this is the most secure way of getting untampered files, Windows 10 computers and devices can connect to each other and get updates not only from Microsoft’s dedicated servers, but also from other Windows 10 devices that have already downloaded parts of the updates. Windows 10 includes a new peer-to-peer download feature for updates and Windows Store apps. By default, Windows will automatically use your PC’s Internet connection to upload updates, hiding the option to disable this five clicks deep in the operating system. You can continue to use peer-to-peer updates on your local network, but we suggest you may not want to waste upload bandwidth to help reduce Microsoft’s bandwidth bills.

Disable the Uploads

You’ll find this setting where all the other Windows Update settings now exist, in the Settings app. Open it by clicking the Start button and selecting “Settings” at the bottom-left corner of the Start menu. One quick way is to press Windows + I on your keyboard.

In the Settings window that appears, click (or tap) the “Update & security” icon.

The first section is Windows Update and it should be opened automatically. If it’s not, click or tap on it.

On the right pane of the Windows Update section, click or tap on “Advanced options” option at the bottom of the Windows Update pane.

The Advanced options window lets you configure everything there is to configure about how Windows Update works. At the end of the main section of settings, which is called “Choose how updates are installed”, you will find a link that lets you “Choose how updates are delivered”. Click or tap on it.

Select the option you prefer under “Updates from more than one place.” We recommend just selecting “PCs on my local network” here.

• Off: This disables the peer-to-peer update feature entirely. Updates will only be downloaded from Microsoft’s servers, and won’t be uploaded to anywhere.
• PCs on my local network: This is the best option. With this enabled, you’ll benefit from peer-to-peer updates on your home or work network. This means faster downloads and less download bandwidth used. You’ll only have to download the updates once and they’ll be shared amongst all your PCs. Your PC will never upload updates over the Internet.
• PCs on my local network, and PCs on the Internet: This option is the default, although it probably shouldn’t be. With this enabled, Windows 10 will upload updates from your PC to other computers over the Internet. These computers would normally just download updates from Microsoft, but Microsoft will save on bandwidth because they’re getting some updates from your Internet connection.

Peer-to-Peer Updates Explained

Peer-to-peer updates are actually a great feature — on your local network. Download the update once and all your computer can share it. Bandwidth on your local network should be plentiful. This actually saves you both time and reduces how much data you have to download, as you won’t have to download the updates five times if you have five Windows 10 PCs at home.

If Microsoft’s servers are being slammed, the distributed nature of the updates can ensure they reach more people faster. This will also help Microsoft save on bandwidth bills, as they’re passing on some of the upload bandwidth they’d need to pay for to their customers’ Internet connections.

According to Microsoft, this feature is named “Windows Update Delivery Optimization.” Microsoft says it also uses your computer’s Internet connection to upload universal apps you’ve downloaded to other PCs over the Internet, so it isn’t just about Windows updates. This isn’t made clear in the Settings app itself, but only on Microsoft’s website.

For more information, consult the official Windows Update Delivery Optimization FAQ on Microsoft’s website.

NOTE: The screenshots used in this article are from Windows 10 with Anniversary Update. Windows 10 Anniversary Update will be available for free, to all Windows 10 users, as of August 2, 2016.

Windows 10 uses a process called Delivery Optimization to make it easier and faster to get Windows updates, but it can come at a cost of increased bandwidth usage. If you’re concerned about your bandwidth, you can turn Delivery Optimization off.

1. From Settings, open Update & Security, and then click on Advanced Options
2. Click on Delivery Optimization, at the bottom of the Advanced Options page
3. You can toggle Allow Downloads from other PCs, or
4. if you have multiple PCs on a local network, allow those but disable PCs on the Internet

The launch of Windows 10 brought an overhaul of Windows Update that includes new features to make the update process simpler. Updates are downloaded by a process called Delivery Optimization. As the name implies, this is an intelligent service which is capable of choosing the best source to get you up-to-date.

Delivery Optimization speeds up the download process by allowing updates to be provided by sources other than Microsoft. With older Windows versions, updates always came from Microsoft’s servers. This meant that if you owned several computers, each one would need to download every update that Microsoft released.

Delivery Optimization offers an alternative approach that’s much more efficient. Windows 10 systems treat Microsoft servers as one of many update sources. The system will first consult with other devices on your network, as well as Windows 10 PCs on the wider Internet. If it finds a machine that already has the update, it can retrieve it directly without reaching back to the Windows Update servers.

Of course, this does come at a price. To enable the peer-to-peer feature, your PC has to do its part in uploading parts of updates to the wider web. If you’ve got poor upload bandwidth or a restrictive data usage cap, you might find Windows’ automatic uploading causes you more problems than it solves.

You can disable Delivery Optimization by opening the Windows 10 Settings app and heading to the “Update and security” category. The Windows Update page should open automatically.

At the bottom of the page, click the “Advanced options” button and then the small “Delivery Optimization” link at the bottom of the page. Note that older versions of Windows 10 label this link more obviously as “Change how updates are delivered” – you may wish to refer to an older version of this tutorial.

You’re now on the Delivery Optimization settings page where you can control how the feature works. To disable Delivery Optimization entirely, turn off the “Allow downloads from other PCs” toggle button. This will prevent Windows from acquiring updates from non-Microsoft sources, including devices on your local network.

Typically, you will want to keep Delivery Optimization enabled for devices on your network, but disable the peer-to-peer Internet functionality. This keeps downloads fast within your home while preventing Windows from consuming your bandwidth. To enable this option, keep the toggle button turned on but select the “PCs on my local network” option.

By default, Windows comes with the “PCs on my local network, and PCs on the Internet” box selected. This enables the peer-to-peer Internet transfers, as well as transfers within your local network. If you want to re-enable the Internet sharing in the future, return to the Delivery Optimization settings page and enable this checkbox.

If you want more control over Delivery Optimization downloads, click the “Advanced options” link to see additional settings. Here, you can control how much bandwidth Delivery Optimization is allowed to use when downloading and uploading new updates.

It’s possible to set a monthly upload limit when peer-to-peer Internet sharing is enabled, which allows you to share updates with the web while staying within your data cap. To enable these options, just tick the checkbox next to each one and adjust the sliders to your desired values. Note that older versions of Windows 10 may not have all of these settings.

Finally, you can get a detailed overview of how much bandwidth Delivery Optimization is using. Back on the main Delivery Optimization settings page, click “Activity monitor” to see a graphical representation of the service’s recent activity. The page shows you average download speeds, as well as how much data has been used when sharing updates with your local network and the wider Internet.

That’s all about Delivery Optimization. While it sounds technical, it’s really just a way for Windows to get updates in the most timely manner. Although the default settings won’t be appropriate for every user, if you’ve got a fast and unlimited data plan you probably don’t need to worry too much about Delivery Optimization’s actual operation.

How to Stop Windows 10 From Uploading Updates to Other PCs Over the Internet Print

Modified on: Thu, 17 Mar, 2016 at 3:00 PM

You’ll find this setting where all the other Windows Update settings now exist, in the Settings app. Open it by clicking the Start button and selecting “Settings” at the bottom-left corner of the Start menu.

In the Settings window that appears, click Update & security.

Click the “Advanced options” option at the bottom.

Scroll down to the bottom of this and select “Choose how updates are delivered.”

Select the option you prefer under “Updates from more than one place.” We recommend just selecting “PCs on my local network” here.

• Off : This disables the peer-to-peer update feature entirely. Updates will only be downloaded from Microsoft’s servers, and won’t be uploaded to anywhere.
• PCs on my local network : This is the best option. With this enabled, you’ll benefit from peer-to-peer updates on your home or work network. This means faster downloads and less download bandwidth used. You’ll only have to download the updates once and they’ll be shared amongst all your PCs. Your PC will never upload updates over the Internet.
• PCs on my local network, and PCs on the Internet : This option is the default, although it probably shouldn’t be. With this enabled, Windows 10 will upload updates from your PC to other computers over the Internet. These computers would normally just download updates from Microsoft, but Microsoft will save on bandwidth because they’re getting some updates from your Internet connection.

Peer-to-Peer Updates Explained

Peer-to-peer updates are actually a great feature — on your local network. Download the update once and all your computer can share it. Bandwidth on your local network should be plentiful. This actually saves you both time and reduces how much data you have to download, as you won’t have to download the updates five times if you have five Windows 10 PCs at home.

Windows 10 isn’t the first software product to play this game. A variety of PC game companies, notably Blizzard Entertainment, distribute games and patches with a peer-to-peer downloader that uses BitTorrent in the background to speed up downloads, sharing your Internet connection with other people downloading. However, these are generally more conspicuous it isn’t a hidden feature enabled in the background that’s always running.

If Microsoft’s servers are being slammed, the distributed nature of the updates can ensure they reach more people faster. This will also help Microsoft save on bandwidth bills, as they’re passing on some of the upload bandwidth they’d need to pay for to their customers’ Internet connections.

According to MIcrosoft, this feature is named “Windows Update Delivery Optimization.” Microsoft says it also uses your computer’s Internet connection to upload universal apps you’ve downloaded to other PCs over the Internet, so it isn’t just about Windows updates. This isn’t made clear in the Settings app itself, but only on Microsoft’s website.

Windows Update Delivery Optimization helps you get Windows updates and Microsoft Store apps more quickly and reliably.

You’re in control over whether you use Delivery Optimization with the settings described in this article.

How Delivery Optimization works

Windows Update Delivery Optimization works by letting you get Windows updates and Microsoft Store apps from sources in addition to Microsoft, like other PCs on your local network, or PCs on the internet that are downloading the same files. Delivery Optimization also sends updates and apps from your PC to other PCs on your local network or PCs on the internet, based on your settings. Sharing this data between PCs helps reduce the internet bandwidth that’s needed to keep more than one device up to date or can make downloads more successful if you have a limited or unreliable Internet connection.

When Windows downloads an update or app using Delivery Optimization, it will look for other PCs on your local network (or from the internet, depending on your settings) that have already downloaded that update or app. Windows doesn’t download the entire file from one place. Instead, the download is broken down into smaller parts. Windows then gets parts of the update or app from the PCs that have it, and parts from Microsoft. Windows uses the fastest, most reliable download source for each part.

Delivery Optimization creates a local cache, and stores files that it has downloaded in that cache for a short period of time.

How we help keep your data safe

Delivery Optimization can’t be used to download or send personal content. Delivery Optimization doesn’t access your personal files or folders, and it doesn’t change any files on your PC.

Delivery Optimization downloads the same updates and apps that you would get through Windows Update and Microsoft Store, using the same security measures. To make sure you’re getting authentic updates, Delivery Optimization gets information securely from Microsoft to check the authenticity of each part of an update or app that it downloads from other PCs. The authenticity of the downloads is checked again before installing it.

How to control Windows Update Delivery Optimization

To stop downloading updates and apps from or sending updates and apps to other Windows 11 devices on the internet:

Select the Start > Settings> Windows Update > Advanced options.

Select Delivery Optimization. Under Allow downloads from other PCs, select Devices on my local network.

To stop downloading from or uploading to other PCs on the local network:

Select the Start > Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options.

Select Delivery Optimization.

Make sure Allow downloads from other PCs is turned Off. You’ll get updates and apps directly from Windows Update and from Microsoft Store with Delivery Optimization; however, you won’t download from or upload to other PCs.

If you use a metered or capped internet connection, Delivery Optimization won’t automatically download or send parts of updates or apps to other PCs on the Internet.

To identify a Wi‑Fi or Ethernet connection as metered or capped:

Select the Start > Settings > Network & internet > Wi‑Fi.

Select the network you’re using, and then turn on Metered connection.

Windows Update Delivery Optimization helps you get Windows updates and Microsoft Store apps more quickly and reliably.

You’re in control over whether you use Delivery Optimization with the settings described in this article.

How Delivery Optimization works

Windows Update Delivery Optimization works by letting you get Windows updates and Microsoft Store apps from sources in addition to Microsoft, like other PCs on your local network, or PCs on the internet that are downloading the same files. Delivery Optimization also sends updates and apps from your PC to other PCs on your local network or PCs on the internet, based on your settings. Sharing this data between PCs helps reduce the internet bandwidth that’s needed to keep more than one device up to date or can make downloads more successful if you have a limited or unreliable Internet connection.

When Windows downloads an update or app using Delivery Optimization, it will look for other PCs on your local network (or from the internet, depending on your settings) that have already downloaded that update or app. Windows doesn’t download the entire file from one place. Instead, the download is broken down into smaller parts. Windows then gets parts of the update or app from the PCs that have it, and parts from Microsoft. Windows uses the fastest, most reliable download source for each part.

Delivery Optimization creates a local cache, and stores files that it has downloaded in that cache for a short period of time.

How we help keep your data safe

Delivery Optimization can’t be used to download or send personal content. Delivery Optimization doesn’t access your personal files or folders, and it doesn’t change any files on your PC.

Delivery Optimization downloads the same updates and apps that you would get through Windows Update and Microsoft Store, using the same security measures. To make sure you’re getting authentic updates, Delivery Optimization gets information securely from Microsoft to check the authenticity of each part of an update or app that it downloads from other PCs. The authenticity of the downloads is checked again before installing it.

How to control Windows Update Delivery Optimization

To stop downloading updates and apps from or sending updates and apps to other Windows 10 devices on the internet:

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced options.

Select Delivery Optimization (or Choose how updates are delivered in earlier versions of Windows 10).

Select PCs on my local network.

To stop downloading from or uploading to other PCs on the local network:

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced options.

Select Delivery Optimization.

Make sure Allow downloads from other PCs is turned Off. You’ll get updates and apps directly from Windows Update and from Microsoft Store with Delivery Optimization; however, you won’t download from or upload to other PCs.

If you use a metered or capped internet connection, Delivery Optimization won’t automatically download or send parts of updates or apps to other PCs on the internet.

To identify a Wi‑Fi or Ethernet connection as metered or capped:

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Network & Internet > Wi‑Fi.

Select the network you’re using, and then turn on Set as metered connection.

A lot of things have changed in Windows 10, not least the way in which updates are delivered. Now that Windows 10 has been officially released and is gradually spreading around the globe, more and more people are starting to discover that the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system is using more bandwidth than expected.

Windows 10 uses a P2P-style system called Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO) which means that once your computer has downloaded an update it can be shared to not only other computers on your network, but also other people online. While it makes sense to share updates to your own computers, you might well resent giving up your bandwidth to others. Thankfully, it’s easy to disable internet-wide WUDO.

In its FAQ, Microsoft explains that WUDO is enabled by default. It is described as being particularly useful for computers with slow or unreliable internet connections, as it allows updates to be downloaded from multiple places at once. As well as Microsoft’s own servers, updates — or parts of updates — will also be downloaded from other Windows 10 users. In order for this to happen, WUDO has to be enabled, but you might prefer to remain in control of your internet connection and stop it from being used for update sharing in the background.

To disable Windows Update Delivery Optimization, use the following steps:

The new Delivery Optimization feature is designed to share updates downloaded to your PC with other PCs on the local network and even on the internet. If you don’t like this behavior, follow the below steps to disable delivery optimization.

What Actually is Delivery Optimization Feature?

In older versions of Windows, it used to be that you will always download updates directly from Microsoft servers. Considering how many Windows users there are, more often than not, this made it downloading updates slow. To deal with that, in Windows 10 Microsoft introduced a new feature called Delivery Optimization. Using this feature, Windows 10 can download updates from local or internet-connected PCs. Of crouse, the same feature also uploads Windows updates for other PCs to download your updates. You can think of this as a peer-to-peer network. As you can guess, thanks to Delivery Optimization you are no longer bottlenecked by MS servers when downloading updates.

As good as the feature is, there will be times when Delivery Optimization is using all or most of your bandwidth. This doesn’t help that there are no limits on Delivery Optimization out of the box. It can take up all your bandwidth without any remorse whatsoever unless you configure it not to do so.

In those cases, you can simply disable Delivery Optimization. Let me show you how.

Steps to Completely Disable Delivery Optimization Feature

Unlike in the previous versions of Windows 10 where the feature is hidden pretty deep, it is now front and center so that you can easily enable or disable Delivery Optimization. Just follow the steps as it and you will good.

1. First, press Win + I to open the PC Settings app. This is where you can manage delivery optimization settings.

2. In the PC Settings app, go to the “Update & Security → Delivery Optimization” page. This page consists of all the settings related to Delivery Optimization and its related features like Activity Monitor.

3. On the right panel, the switch under “Allow downloads from other PCs” to the OFF position.

That is all. It is that simple to disable delivery optimization. In case you wondering, once you disable the feature, it will not download or upload updates from or to other PCs on the local network or over the internet.

Hope that helps. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.

First, you need to know about delivery optimization on Windows 10. Windows Delivery Optimization enables you to receive updates from the operating system, Microsoft Store as well as non Microsoft sources like local network, PCs on the internet that download the same files. Windows Delivery Optimization not only receives updates, but also send the same to other networks and PC, either on the same local network or on the internet. It is solely based on your Settings.
The advantage of this Update Delivery Optimization is that you can save the internet bandwidth because by sharing data among different PCs on the same network or on the internet. This is required to keep more than one device up to date or can make downloads more successful if you have a limited or unreliable Internet connection. So, if there is an impending update

When Windows downloads an update or app using Delivery Optimization, it will look for other PCs on your local network. It’s not that Windows downloads an entire file from one source. It is something like the concept of torrent. That is the entire file is downloaded in bits and parts from different legit sources on the internet. This process has been adopted so that Windows can download updates in the fastest and most reliable manner.

Delivery Optimization creates a local cache, and stores files that it has downloaded in that cache for a short period of time.
According to Microsoft:

Delivery Optimization provides you with Windows and Store app updates and other Microsoft Store app updates and other Microsoft products quickly and reliably.
If you have an unreliable internet connection or are updating multiple devices, allowing downloads from other PCs can help you speed up the process. If you turn this on, your PC may send parts of previously downloaded Windows updates and apps to PCs on your local network or on the internet. Your PC won’t upload PC to other PCs on the internet when you are on a metered network?

Steps To Disable Downloads From Other PCs On Local Network Windows 10

1. First of all, click on the Start button and go to Settings.

2. As Settings application opens, tap on Update & Security.

3. In the left panel, click on Delivery Optimization.

4. In the right panel, under delivery optimization, you will find the Allow Downloads From Other PCs. If you want to turn off delivery optimization then simple tap on the slider below and disable it. If you want to keep it enables, but just do not want to let your computer use data from PCs on the internet, then simple check the radio button corresponding to option PCs on my local network.

Many-a-times you might have faced Windows update problems, which will hinder your user experience. In Windows 10, delivery optimization comes to the rescue for better download and update experience of store apps and updates. Though you can do other tasks while Windows 10 is updating, it is quite common to wait for the updates to finish.

What-if there is a mechanism, where you can speed up this process? For this purpose, let’s see the Update & Security setting feature called “Delivery Optimization”.It will keep your engaging time with the updates minimal. Also you can make sure your updates are installed successfully or not.

Table of Contents

Delivery Optimization

This has a new tab under Update & Security setting. You can get Windows and Store app updates and other Microsoft updates quickly and securely. Your Internet connection may be unreliable or too slow. You might be updating several PCs at one time. Now allowing downloads from other systems can speed up the update process.

Once this option is activated, your PC will send parts of previously downloaded updates and apps to PCs on the local network or Internet. But this will not work if you are on a metered connection.

There are two options under this feature –

Allow downloads from other PCs

1. PCs on my local network
2. PCs on my local networks, and PCs on the Internet

This scenario is most suited if you are in an office environment, where you need to update lot of PCs. It is a useful feature to system administrator. If your ISP speed rate is 20 Mbps, you can easily get updates to your other PCs at a faster rate than that.

There are also Advanced options.

When the above setting is activated, Windows 10 will automatically monitor the download and upload speeds to optimize the resources, the computer needs. The amount of bandwidth required for both the above processes is dynamically taken care of, by default. But if you want to manual manage it, you have the following settings.

Download settings

1. Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the background
2. Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the foreground

You set the levels in between 0 to 100%.

Upload settings

1. Limit how much bandwidth is used for uploading updates to other PCs on the Internet
2. Monthly upload limit

Once the monthly upload limit is reached, your PC will stop uploading updates and apps to other systems in your network.

A graphic also shows the amount of monthly upload to date. It also shows the amount left over, which can be used for further updates.

If uploads or downloads with the OneDrive website are taking too long, or you selected the wrong files, they can be cancelled. If you are using the OneDrive sync app and want to stop a file from syncing or backing up, you can pause the upload or download. You can also cancel uploads and downloads on mobile devices.

On the top toolbar, select Uploading to show the Progress of each file.

To cancel the entire upload, select at the top of the list.

Tip: You can also cancel individual files from the upload.

Go to the download area of your browser (at the bottom of the browser window).

Select the downloading file options and choose Cancel.

If the sync is just at a bad time for you, you can schedule the sync to resume later.

Select the OneDrive icon on the taskbar and select . More > Pause syncing > 2 hours.

Tip: The sync will resume automatically, but you can keep rescheduling so that the sync runs overnight.

If you don’t want to sync all of your folders in OneDrive to your computer, you can specify which folders you’d like to sync.

Delete it or move it out of your OneDrive folders.

Tip: Files deleted from OneDrive.com go to your OneDrive recycle bin. Files deleted from your computer’s OneDrive go to your computers Recycle Bin or Trash.

Select the OneDrive icon on the taskbar or menu bar and select Resume

Close OneDrive by right-clicking the OneDrive taskbar or menu bar icon.

Restart OneDrive from the Windows Start menu or Mac Finder.

Mark the file or folder as Free up space.

If you made a mistake adding or uploading the file to OneDrive, you can delete it or move it out of your OneDrive folders.

When you use File Explorer to open a file marked as Available when online, OneDrive will download it first. To stop this download follow these steps:

Open OneDrive from the icon on the taskbar.

Select the X next to the file currently downloading.

Tap the X underneath the thumbnail of the file that’s being uploaded.

Open your Download Manager notifications.

Tap Cancel by the file download you want to stop.

See also

Need more help?

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For the OneDrive mobile app, see Troubleshoot OneDrive mobile app problems.

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