Is there a way to permanently disable updates of all Google software?
Yes, there is.
Steps:
Press Win + R and execute
regedit
.Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Update
.Add/modify the DWORD
DisableAutoUpdateChecksCheckboxValue
and set it to1
.
(Source: How to Customize or Disable Google Update)
Make sure you update at least Chrome periodically to fix vulnerabilities.
You can disable the check for updates in task scheduler.
You could find out what up or a record the updates are done via and block them in your hosts file.
Alternatively you can install and use the Chrome versions that do not have an automatic update feature like Chrome Canary and Chromium.
The difference between the two to update the build:
- With Canary, you have to click on the "Customized and control Google Chrome" button (it's the button with 3 dark horizontal bars at the top-right of the browser) then click on "About Google Chrome".
- With Chromium, you must actually download and install the update build. -
Please note that both Canary and Chromium are designed for early-adopter and developers so they may occasionally have issues although they always have the cutting-edge features ahead of all other versions.