Microsoft Store disables opting out of automatic app updates

Normally, automatic software updates are a good thing. They keep you running the latest versions of software, including essential security and stability updates, often necessary for everything from tiny apps to Windows. But there are some good reasons why you might want to avoid these, as exemplified by Windows updates. Now it appears Microsoft has removed automatic app updates from the Microsoft Store.

Previously, you could disable automatic updates for Windows apps and games in the Microsoft store by diving into the Settings menu. But as German site Deskmodder (spotted by PCMag) notes, this menu now restricts you to a maximum delay of 5 weeks, after which Windows Update presumably installs updates again whether you want them or not.

Security and stability are the obvious reasons for this mandatory change, but I can’t help but worry about some fairly obvious malicious applications here, if you’ll pardon the pun. We’ve seen companies buy up popular browser extensions only to fill them with adware, and apps have been hijacked to spread viruses, trojans, and other bad stuff before.

Having an integration with the Microsoft Store and Windows Update (and by extension, Microsoft Defender) would seem to bring in a lot of extra security you don’t get from a manual download or an update system fully integrated into the app itself. But these integrated systems, while more secure in general, aren’t perfect either. The security of an “app store” setup has been circumvented many times.

And beyond that… maybe you just don’t want an app to update because it’s changed in ways you don’t like, or it’s broken some particular feature. I’ve got plenty of installers for old, outdated versions of programs squirreled away on my PC for exactly that reason.