Exclude Drivers from Windows Update

What it changes

Stops Windows Update from installing device drivers as part of quality updates. Windows still installs security and feature updates; only driver packages are left alone.

Why it helps

• Windows Update can replace a GPU driver you pinned deliberately with an older or newer one, with no notice. A sudden change in stutter or crashes "this week" is often that.
• Chipset, audio, and network drivers get swapped the same way.

Trade-offs

• You now own driver updates: use the GPU vendor's app or the manufacturer's site. A driver with a security fix will not arrive on its own.
• This is a policy value, so the Optional Updates page in Windows Update stops offering drivers too.
• Off by default and skipped by Apply Performance Preset for that reason.

Requires administrator rights. No restart needed.

Details

• Sets ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate=1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate.
• This is the documented group policy "Do not include drivers with Windows Updates". Revert removes the value rather than writing a different policy, so Windows Settings is not left showing "managed by your organization".

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Part of Performance Tweaks. This page is the same text as the app's Learn more button, generated from Help/tweaks/wu_driver_exclude.md. To fix something, edit that file (or open an issue); wiki edits are overwritten on the next sync.