Forum Discussion
Don't show windows 11 update notifications after the update has been viewed.
It used to be that we'd get a notification and the Windows Update taskbar icon would show on the taskbar ONLY when there was a new notification AND we had not yet viewed it. After that it would be s...
Windows 11 doesn’t provide a supported setting for that exact behaviour. The Windows Update tray icon is a status indicator, not an unread-notification badge, so opening Windows Update doesn’t necessarily clear it. An update or restart still pending can keep it visible.
The available controls don’t distinguish “I’ve reviewed this update” from “a new update has arrived”:
- Pause updates lets you postpone updates, but it also changes update scheduling; it isn’t a way to acknowledge individual notifications.
- Notify me when a restart is required under Windows Update’s advanced options controls restart notifications, not the behaviour you described.
- Hiding the icon, where available, also hides the indication you want for future updates.
If your aim is to avoid early optional releases, leave Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available turned off and don’t manually select optional preview or driver updates. That won’t restore an “unread updates only” icon, though.