How to stop Fallout 4 from updating (Steam/GOG/Xbox)

[Pickysaurus]

Fallout 4's Next-Gen update is coming on 25 April 2024. This update will almost certainly cause some disruption for modders, especially those with F4SE-heavy load orders. This post includes guidance on how to prevent your game from updating across the various platforms the game is available. 

The last version before the update was 1.10.163.0.

 

How to stop GOG Galaxy from updating Fallout 4

Spoiler

GOG Galaxy provides a much easier way to stop your game from updating and allows you to roll back to older versions. 

1. Open GOG Galaxy and find Fallout 4 in your "Installed" section.
2. Click the More button at the top of the panel (near the Play button).
3. Choose "Manage Installation" -> "Configure…"
4. Under "Auto-updates" uncheck the "Automatically update to the newest version" box.
5. You can also use this feature to roll back to 1.10.163.0 if you've updated by mistake. Simply click on the version of the game you'd like to use.

 

How to stop Steam from updating Fallout 4

Spoiler

These instructions assume you are using Steam on Windows. The process may differ slightly for MacOS or Linux.

Note: This is only relevant once the new update is available! Changing the depos before 25 April won't have any effect.

1. Find your Fallout 4 install folder (defaults to C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout 4).
2. In the steamapps sub-folder two levels above, locate the file appmanifest_377160.acf - this is the app manifest for Fallout 4. You can verify it's the correct one by opening it in Notepad and checking that Falloput 4 is written inside the file. 
3. Open this link in your browser https://steamdb.info/app/377160/depots/?branch=public. 
4. Open appmanifest_377160.acf in Notepad and look for the "InstalledDepots" section. This should contain something similar to this:  

   	"InstalledDepots"
   	{
   		"377161"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"7497069378349273908"
   			"size"		"6092666130"
   		}
   		"377162"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"5847529232406005096"
   			"size"		"65503104"
   		}
   		"377163"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"5819088023757897745"
   			"size"		"19539383766"
   		}
   		"377164"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"2178106366609958945"
   			"size"		"3815537394"
   		}
   		"435870"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"1691678129192680960"
   			"size"		"615585599"
   			"dlcappid"		"435870"
   		}
   		"435871"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"5106118861901111234"
   			"size"		"130989066"
   			"dlcappid"		"435870"
   		}
   		"435880"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"1255562923187931216"
   			"size"		"79345533"
   			"dlcappid"		"435880"
   		}
   		"435881"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"1207717296920736193"
   			"size"		"2890058024"
   			"dlcappid"		"435881"
   		}
   		"435882"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"8482181819175811242"
   			"size"		"599590846"
   			"dlcappid"		"435881"
   		}
   		"480630"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"5527412439359349504"
   			"size"		"265010956"
   			"dlcappid"		"480630"
   		}
   		"480631"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"6588493486198824788"
   			"size"		"432439632"
   			"dlcappid"		"480631"
   		}
   		"393885"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"5000262035721758737"
   			"size"		"54722008"
   			"dlcappid"		"480631"
   		}
   		"490650"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"4873048792354485093"
   			"size"		"3946502119"
   			"dlcappid"		"490650"
   		}
   		"393895"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"7677765994120765493"
   			"size"		"374503550"
   			"dlcappid"		"490650"
   		}
   	}

5. On the SteamDB page, under "Depots" find the row that matches your installed Depot.
6. Copy the ManifestID from SteamDB and replace the one shown in your file.
7. Save and close the ACF file. 
8. Right-click on the appmanifest_377160.acf  file and select "Properties".
9. In the properties window check the "Read only" box and click "Apply". This prevents Steam from correcting the manifest details itself.
10. Your Steam client should now believe Fallout 4 is updated and not attempt to update it automatically. 

To undo this change, simply remove the "Read only" flag on the appmanifest_377160.acf  file and verify your game files via Steam. 

How to stop Xbox Game Pass (PC) from updating Fallout 4

Spoiler

Stopping updates via Xbox Game Pass for PC can be done in the Settings menu, but this (like with Steam) doesn't always fully stick and occasionally the game will update anyway. 

Disable Updates in Settings

1. Open the Xbox app and sign in if you haven't done so yet.
2. Click your profile icon in the top-left and select "Settings".
3. Under "Install Options", uncheck the "Enable Automatic Updates" checkbox. 
4. Close the Xbox app and restart your PC.

 

 

Disable Updates in Services.msc (Advanced)

If the method above has not worked, you can make changes to the background Windows services that control game updates. This is for advanced users only and you should make a note of this change somewhere in case you want to undo it. 

1. Open a Command Prompt with Windows Key + R.
2. Type "services.msc" into the input box and press enter.
3. Locate the "Delivery Optimisation" entry and double-click it.
4. Click the "Stop" button, then change the "Startup type" to "Disabled" to prevent this service from restarting with your PC boots up.
5. Click "Apply", and then "OK" to confirm the changes.
6. Restart your PC. 

Disabling a service in this way may have unintended side effects when the Xbox app needs to download content, so consider making this change a "last resort" action. 

 

How to backup your game folder

The final recommendation is to back up your entire Fallout 4 folder somewhere safe so that if all else fails, you always have a copy of the original files to refer back to. 

1. Open your Fallout 4 install folder.
2. Select all files (Ctrl + A on the keyboard).
3. Right-click and select copy and paste these files to another location on your PC (optionally, use 7zip to compress them).
4. If your game ever updates accidentally, you can extract the contents of this file into your game folder to restore the original content. 

[drevviken]

Isn't it enough with the ol' Only update this game when I launch it if you're always launching via MO2/F4SE...? 

[Pickysaurus]

1 minute ago, drevviken said:

Isn't it enough with the ol' Only update this game when I launch it if you're always launching via MO2/F4SE...? 

You can do that too, but I've seen many users do this and Steam will just randomly update it after a few days/weeks. 

[drevviken]

I'm trying to understand the Steam instructions. I feel like a complete idiot. Is the link supposed to take me to Stardew Valley and where is 413150.acf  located? Can't find anything. 

[FoxtrotTheSpaniard]

Once I'm in SteamDB, what should I do? I tried clicking on Install, but it says "error: no license". What's the DB part about??

[Sankese]

I don't understand either-- why does it take us to Stardew Valley, and wouldn't it be possible to just set the .acf to read only so Steam would no longer be able to modify it?

 

[Sankese]

10 minutes ago, drevviken said:

I'm trying to understand the Steam instructions. I feel like a complete idiot. Is the link supposed to take me to Stardew valley and where is 413150.acf  located? Can't find anything. 

same problem here, i cant find 413150.acf in the stardew DB soooo

[AmericanKazuma]

The suggestion that was here previously is not welcome 

Edited April 25 by AmericanKazuma
Was told to remove the post because it was wrong but I don't know how to delete posts so I replaced the text

[MZO]

@PickysaurusI think you made a typo in the guide
For the steam part of the guide, the steamdb link points to stardew valley (413150) and not fallout 4 (377160). And just under that line you mention stardew's manifest aswell.
Let me know if Im missing something or if that is a type

Edited April 18 by MZO9400

[Pickysaurus]

9 minutes ago, Sankese said:

I don't understand either-- why does it take us to Stardew Valley, and wouldn't it be possible to just set the .acf to read only so Steam would no longer be able to modify it?

 

That was a mistake on the post. I copy pasted from an article about Stardew so the text updated but not the link. Fixed now.