How To: Remove WSUS Settings and Restore Windows Update Defaults

In some cases, a WSUS server within your network may have been decommissioned, or you want a client computer to no longer point to a local WSUS Server. You will need to remove some registry entries to reset the Windows Update defaults and remove the WSUS redirect on the computer.

Ideally, if you need to perform this action on many computers in a domain, group policy would be a better answer. However, if you need to change the setting for a few computers, follow the instructions below.

Remove WSUS Settings via PowerShell

  1. Click Start and open PowerShell as Administrator (Right Click > Run as Administrator)
  2. Stop the Windows Update Service by entering the command Stop-Service -Name wuauserv
  3. Remove the Windows Update registry key by entering the command Remove-Item HKLM: \Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate -Recurse
  4. Finally, Start the Windows Update Service again by entering the command Start-Service -name wuauserv

Remove WSUS Settings Manually

  1. Click Start and type regedit into the start search box, then Right Click and Run as Administrator.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\
  3. Right Click and Delete the registry key WindowsUpdate, then close the registry editor.
  4. Open the Services Console by entering services.msc in the start search box.
  5. Locate and Restart the Windows Update Service