How To Hide Unwanted Optional Windows 7 Updates

This guide will show you step by step how to hide any unwanted or optional Windows 7 Updates that you don’t want to install.

  1. To check for updates click on the Start button, then select All Programs, and finally Windows Update.

    the windows 7 start menu

  2. Then click on Check for updates in the left panel.
  3. an arrow pointing at a link titled check for updates

  4. In this example you can see there are 34 Optional Updates. Mostly because this is Windows 7 Ultimate and there are a lot of additional language packs you probably don’t want or need.
  5. a big list of Windows 7 optional updates

  6. Click on the Optional Updates link to see a list of the updates. Right-click on the one you don’t need then click Hide Update.
  7. hide unwanted windows 7 updates

  8. If you want to hide multiple Optional Updates highlight the first one then scroll down to the bottom and hold the Shift key while you left-click the mouse to select them all.
  9. hide multiple unwanted windows updates

  10. Then right-click anywhere on the highlighted updates and click Hide Updates.
  11. selecting Hide Updates from the right-click context menu in Windows 7

  12. Then click the OK button at the bottom of the screen.
  13. an OK button in Windows 7

  14. You’ll be brought back to the Windows Update screen and the Optional Updates are no longer displayed.
  15. the Windows Update screen with no optional updates listed

  16. If you want to show Optional Updates again just click Restore hidden updates in the left panel.
  17. unhide or restore optional updates in Windows 7

  18. The Optional Updates will be displayed again and you can check the one(s) you want then click Restore and install them if you want.
  19. using the Restore feature to install previously unwanted Windows optional updates

This works for individual or multiple Optional Updates that you want to hide or restore. You can also do this for Important Updates but it isn’t advised as they provide stability and security patches to the OS.

2021 Update: Microsoft doesn’t provide updates for Windows 7 at this time. For the most part. Kind of. This is a great article that explains how to update Windows 7 now that Microsoft only provides updates for Enterprise customers (again, that’s not entirely true). It does take quite a long time and it’s much more involved than just using the Windows Update feature, but keeping Windows 7 completely up to date does protect you from some of the latest severe security threats (WannaCry, WannaCrypt, Spectre, Meltdown, PrintNightmare etc).


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1 thought on “How To Hide Unwanted Optional Windows 7 Updates”

  1. This method worked, at least for now.
    I hid the graphic driver upgrade that kept reappearing even after I installed it. Time will tell if it does not return.

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