I am on limited bandwidth and accidentally started a software update, which was going to use over 4 gigs of data. I tried to force quit the process in Activity Monitor, but it continued to go. I had to shut down my computer to get it to stop. And I 'm concerned while I'm away it will start up again and use up my limited data bandwidth.
How do I stop this process? Any ideas?
Thank you
iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15
Maybe I wasn't clear. When a software update happens, it is downloading data in the form of the new software onto my computer. As you know, Mac OS updates are quite large. I have a limit of 20 gigs a month on my satellite internet data plan, so 4 or more gigs is a significant portion of my monthly data allowance. I accidentally started the download and had no way of stopping it. This is the dilemma. Still unsolved.
HI Buffsters,
If you go to Software Update in System Preferences there should be a way to stop an update. If you move your cursor to the end of the progress bar for an update, an X will appear where you can cancel it.
See screenshot
I hope this helps.
Thanks for your response. On the latest Catalina update, this window you screenshot disappeared, nowhere to be found. When I went to Software Update it went through the process of determining I didn't have the most recent OS, and asked again if I wanted to download and update it. But it was clearly already running because I have a data use meter that was quickly downloading the large update. I tried to stop the process in Activity Monitor, but it wouldn't stop. I shut off my computer, turned it back on, and it appeared to stop, but when I returned home later in the day it had completed the download.
It seems, once you start the downloads now, there is no way to stop them.
In System Preferences > Software Update
select Advanced and insure that [ ]Check for updates
is NOT enabled
Thank you for that! I'd swear I'd checked that early on, but I found when I went there today that both the first and second boxes were checked. I unchecked them. Hopefully this will solve the problem. We'll see with the next update.
Launch Safari and click on the Downloads button in the tool bar. Then you can see if you can use the Clear button to stop the download:
Software updates do not use data. They are Wi-Fi only.
Thank you for your reply. I usually use Firefox, but if this happens again I'll keep this option in mind.
Sometimes updates or upgrades to systems reset some of the System preferences.
how do I stop softwareupdate process?
