Always automatically restart at the scheduled time

Policy ID
AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTime
Scope
Computer Configuration
Supported on
At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
Source
Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
Category
Windows Components › Windows Update › Legacy Policies

Description

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.

Options

  • The restart timer will give users this much time to save their
  • work (minutes):

Registry

ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
  • AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTimeREG_DWORD
  • AlwaysAutoRebootAtScheduledTimeMinutesREG_DWORD

Other policies in the same category

View all policies in this category (19)