Skip to content

TechDirectArchive

Hands-on IT, Cloud, Security, Veeam & DevOps

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise With US
  • Contact
  • Reviews
  • Toggle search form

How to enable or disable automatic software updates on Mac

Posted on 14/11/202010/09/2023 IT Expert By IT Expert No Comments on How to enable or disable automatic software updates on Mac
  1. Home
  2. Mac
  3. How to enable or disable automatic software updates on Mac
enable software updates

Keeping your software up to date is essential in maintaining the security of your Mac. With the Automatic Updates feature, mac can automatically keep the computer up to date with the latest updates, enhancements and can improve stability, performance, and compatibility. And when updates download automatically, it’s faster and more convenient to install them when you’re ready. Follow the steps described below to disable automatic logging out of users. See this guide on how to enable or disable automatic login on macOS: Fix username greyed out for automatic login.

If your primary concern is on data usage or network bandwidth, you can prevent software updates from downloading automatically from Apple, thereby conserving network bandwidth. There are the following ways to have this set on your MacBook.

Method 1: Enable Automatic Updates via the Software Update preferences:

The option is found in the System Preferences window as shown below 
- Click on Software Update 
disable software updates

This will open the software update window as shown below. Wow, there is even an upgrade available to me!
– Click on the Advanced menu as shown below and
– Check the button close to “Automatically keep my Mac up to date”.

automatic updates

And select the all the automatic updates options available.

Mac software updates

Disable Automatic Updates via the Software Update preferences: These steps are similar to the steps needed for enabling “automatic updates”.
– In this step, you will have to uncheck the option “Automatically keep my Mac up to date”.
– You will be prompted to click on the option to “Turn Off automatic Updates” as shown below

Method 2 – Use a Terminal command: System administrators can enter this command in Terminal to prevent automatic downloads.

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate AutomaticDownload -boolean FALSE

Method 3 – Use a configuration profile: The following method can be used to disable automatic updates in Mac as well.

System administrators can prevent automatic downloads by using a configuration profile with the AutomaticDownload key set to False in the com.apple.SoftwareUpdate domain.

I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session. I welcome you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Rate this post

Thank you for reading this post. Kindly share it with others.

  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
  • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
  • Share on Nextdoor (Opens in new window) Nextdoor
Mac Tags:updates, Windows Updates

Post navigation

Previous Post: Enable or disable automatic login on macOS: Fix username greyed out for automatic login
Next Post: How to setup a cache-only DNS server

Related Posts

  • Remove Nextcloud Desktop Client
    How to correctly uninstall Nextcloud from Mac Mac
  • safari 1
    How to clear cookies history and cache in Safari Mac
  • LiveCaption
    Enable or disable automatic Google Chrome Live Caption on macOS Mac
  • homebrew social card
    Package Manager for macOS: How to install Homebrew on macOS Mac
  • macrestart
    How to Enable or Prevent Reopen Windows when logging back in after Restart or Shutdown on Mac Mac
  • Mendeley Cite with MSWord Issue resolved
    Mendeley Cite ECITE40001 Error: Fix issue using Microsoft Word Desktop application Mac

More Related Articles

Remove Nextcloud Desktop Client How to correctly uninstall Nextcloud from Mac Mac
safari 1 How to clear cookies history and cache in Safari Mac
LiveCaption Enable or disable automatic Google Chrome Live Caption on macOS Mac
homebrew social card Package Manager for macOS: How to install Homebrew on macOS Mac
macrestart How to Enable or Prevent Reopen Windows when logging back in after Restart or Shutdown on Mac Mac
Mendeley Cite with MSWord Issue resolved Mendeley Cite ECITE40001 Error: Fix issue using Microsoft Word Desktop application Mac

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Microsoft MVP

VEEAMLEGEND

vexpert-badge-stars-5

Virtual Background

GoogleNews

Categories

veeaam100

Veeam Vanguard

  • Screenshot 2021 09 02 at 20.08.14
    Service Principal Name: How to add or reset and delete SPNs Windows
  • Uninstall Wampserver
    How to uninstall WAMPServer from Windows Web Server
  • banner
    How to Integrate Jira Software with GitHub Cloud JIRA|Confluence|Apps
  • git default branch min
    Git config –global init.defaultBranch: Error cannot lock ref ‘refs/remotes/origin/windows’, not a directory Version Control System
  • Remote Desktop Connection
    Connect to the Remote Desktop Console from Command Prompt Windows
  • Screenshot 1
    Fix SMB Freezes That Break Backups on Critical Linux Servers Network | Monitoring
  • Assigned Access
    Single App Kiosk Mode: Assigned Access using Local Settings Windows
  • ADO Self hosted agent
    How to Create Self-Hosted Agent for Azure DevOps Pipelines Automation

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,801 other subscribers
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments
  • About
  • Authors
  • Write for us
  • Advertise with us
  • General Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Feedly
  • Telegram
  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • mastodon

Tags

AWS Azure Bitlocker Microsoft Windows PowerShell WDS Windows 10 Windows 11 Windows Deployment Services Windows Server 2016

Copyright © 2025 TechDirectArchive

Loading Comments...

You must be logged in to post a comment.