The earlier version of the Google Chrome browser allowed the users to choose whether they want to update their Google Chrome browser to a new version or not.However, with time, Google has changed the way updates are released for the browser and now the Google Chrome updates automatically. If you want to disable automatic updates in Google Chome, here is a tutorial showing how you can do it. Apart from Google Chrome, the latest browser to adopt this technique is the Mozilla Firefox web browser. The latest version of the Mozilla Firefox automatically updates to the latest version whenever it becomes available. Now coming to Chrome, there can be several reasons why you don’t want to update to the latest version automatically, but prefer to have an option. The main reason could be being not sure about the stability of the latest version. Also, you may see one of your favorite features from the current version of Google Chrome being removed in the latest version. I personally like to update the web browsers or any other software program manually. This gives you the option to be sure about the stability of the latest version and later update manually. You can also disable automatic update in Windows 10 if you are running one. There are several ways to disable automatic update in Google Chrome. However, we would begin with the easiest possible solution. Disable Automatic Update from System Configuration Google Chrome looks for any new version of Google Chrome every you restart the browser. To check for the update, Google Chrome uses two System Services namely Google Update (gupdate) and Google Update (gupdatem). So, to turn off automatic update in Google Chrome, we have to disable these Google services. You can disable these services easily from the System Configuration window. Follow these steps to know how to turn off automatic updates in Google Chrome. Note: Turning off auto-updates should be done with caution. You may not receive the latest security updates if you do not auto-update or manually update Google Chrome frequently. Close the Google Chrome browser. Make sure you save all open tabs in Chrome if you want to restore them later. Press Windows Key R. It will open Run command dialogue box. Type, msconfig in the box and hit enter. It will open System Configuration Window. In System Configuration window, click Services tab. At the bottom, check the box “Hide All Microsoft Services“. This will hide all the services related to Microsoft so that you don’t disable essential services. Under services section search and find Google Update (gupdate) and Google Update (gupdatem). Uncheck both the Google Services and click Apply button. Click OK to save the settings. Now, you will be asked whether you want to exit without restart or want to restart your PC now. Choose anything according to your current situation. That’s it! You have successfully disabled automatic updates in Google Chrome. Update: 2016-11-25 There is one more step to follow before you can completely disable automatic google Chrome updates. You have to delete or rename GoogleUpdate.exe file in the Chrome directory. To do this navigate to this path: 32-bit (x84) Windows Users: C:\Program Files\Google\Update\ 64-bit (x64) Windows Users: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\ Once you are in the Google update folder, look for Googleupdate.exe file. Right-click on it and select Rename. Renaming the file is better than deleting it. Rename Googleupdate.exe to Googleupdate.info. To check whether the settings have been applied correctly, open Google Chrome > click Chrome Menu > Help > About Google Chrome. Now Google Chrome will start checking for the available update. If you see an “An error occurred while checking for updates: Update check failed to start (error code 3: 0x800704C7 — system level).” message then you have successfully disabled the automatic updates in Google Chrome. Note: When you open Google Chrome next time, you might be asked to provide administrative access to enable automatic update in Google Chrome. Simply select No every time. Enable Automatic Update in Google Chrome Once you have disabled automatic updates in Google Chrome, you won’t be able to update the Google Chrome unless you enable the Google update services in the System Configuration services tab. In case you want to revert the changes, here is how to do it. Note: This will also work if you are facing the Can’t connect to the Proxy Server Error in Chrome. Close Google Chrome browser. Press Windows Key R, type msconfig and hit enter. From the System Configuration window, click the Services tab. Check “Hide All Microsoft Services” at the bottom. Now find Google Update (gupdate) and Google Update (gupdatem) and check the services. Click on Apply and then on OK button to save the changes. Next, navigate to: 32-bit (x84) Windows Users: C:\Program Files\Google\Update\ 64-bit (x64) Windows Users: C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\ And rename the Googleupdate.info to googleupdate.exe. Restart your PC and open Google Chrome. Go to Chrome Menu > Help > About Google Chrome and Chrome will start checking for the updates.
