How to stop Microsoft Updates from running?

Question

How to stop Microsoft Updates from running?

A year or so ago I disabled Microsoft Updates notifications and for some time it stopped nagging me. But now Microsoft found a workaround. Instead of showing notifications, I see the Microsoft Updates application itself running every day on my computer. I turned off all Microsoft Office updates, but it is still popping out and it looks like my Office Applications were updated against my will. This is very annoying. I do not want Microsoft to control my computer. I may check for updates once a year or so, but I do not want to see this every day without my consent.

What macOS mechanism that allows the application to start every day and how can I remove this application from settings?

MacBook Pro 15”, macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 19, 2020 7:15 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

BDAqua

Level 10

245,567 points

Apr 21, 2020 3:02 PM in response to alekseyfromsan francisco

Look in /Library/Launch Daemons & /Library/Launch Agents for com.microsoft something plists.

Or...

EtreCheck is a simple little app to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 2

raina_b22

Community Specialist

Apr 21, 2020 8:23 AM in response to alekseyfromsan francisco

Greetings alekseyfromsan francisco,

I see that you have an application that starts when you log into your Mac. I'm glad to help with this.

Open items automatically when you log in on Mac -- You'll find your login items in System Preferences > Users & Groups.

Take care.

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Answer 3

jeremy_v

Community Specialist

Apr 21, 2020 9:19 AM in response to alekseyfromsan francisco

Thanks for getting back to us with that information, alekseyfromsan francisco. It's appreciated.

Receive, pause, or stop notifications on Mac -- If you simply want to stop your Mac from notifying you, go to System Preferences > Notifications, and turn off notifications for Microsoft Update Assistant. If you want to stop Microsoft's update notification, you'll need to contact Microsoft for help.

Cheers!

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Answer 4

Apr 21, 2020 9:39 AM in response to jeremy_v

I disabled notifications a year or so ago. I do not see notifications from Microsoft Updates anymore. Since two or three weeks ago the application itself started popping up on the screen once a day:

I wonder how does it start? How can I prevent it from starting automatically?

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Answer 5

Apr 21, 2020 8:28 AM in response to raina_b22

Hi,

Nope. This is not what I am looking for. These are items that run when I login. Microsoft Updates is not there. It starts when I work on my computer every day at some specific time.

There is some mechanism that starts an application at a specific time and day. On Linux it is cron. But I did not find any crotabs on Mac. There must be some service, etc.

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Answer 6

Apr 21, 2020 2:12 PM in response to BDAqua

I do not want to delete it yet because I might want to run it once or twice a year. What worries me is the mechanism that this application uses to start. Why nobody knows how does it start? In Widows or Linux I know where to look for, but it seems like nobody knows how macOS works. Maybe there are other applications that silently start and do not notify me? I want to control my computer.

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Answer 7

Apr 21, 2020 4:08 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks. I think this is it: "/Library/LaunchAgents/com.microsoft.update.agent.plist"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Disabled</key>
  <false/>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>com.microsoft.update.agent</string>
  <key>MachServices</key>
  <dict>
    <key>com.microsoft.update.agent</key>
    <true/>
  </dict>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Update Assistant.app/Contents/MacOS/Microsoft Update Assistant</string>
    <string>-checkForUpdates</string>
  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
  <key>StartInterval</key>
  <integer>43200</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

43200 is probably run every 12 hours. Pretty crazy, uh? I changed it to 15552000. Twice a year is more than enough

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Answer 8

Apr 21, 2020 4:14 PM in response to alekseyfromsan francisco

And I should also remove RunAtLoad Here is what man page says:

This optional key is used to control whether your job is launched once at the time the job is loaded. The default is false. This key should be avoided, as speculative job launches have an adverse effect on system-boot and user-login scenarios.

I can't image what idiot wrote this file. Could be a virus though.

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