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In Kubuntu 20.04, you can disable APT’s automatic package-list checks and unattended upgrades by setting two values in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades to "0". This controls those APT behaviors only: it is not a confirmed way to stop Discover notifications or Snap refreshes.
What the settings control
“Automatic updates” can mean several different things. The community answer for Kubuntu 20.04 describes two APT periodic settings; it does not establish a single switch for every update source or notification.
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| Behavior | What the cited guidance establishes |
|---|---|
| APT package-list refresh | Controlled by APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists in 20auto-upgrades. |
| APT unattended package installation | Controlled by APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade in the same file. |
| Discover update listings or notifications | Not shown to be disabled by these APT settings. An Ask Ubuntu question reports Discover activity continuing after Muon settings were changed. |
| Snap refreshes | Not controlled by the two APT settings. A SitePoint participant using Ubuntu—not Kubuntu—said Snap packages are checked routinely and installed automatically; this is not Kubuntu-specific documentation. |
The procedure below comes from a community answer, not an official Kubuntu manual, and was not independently tested for this article. It assumes you are comfortable editing a system file with sudo.
Disable the two APT periodic actions
-
Open a terminal and edit the configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgrades -
Find these entries and change each value from
"1"to"0":#1 Best Overall
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "0 default_type "; APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "0 default_type ";Keep the setting names, quotation marks, and semicolons. If either entry is absent, the cited answer does not specify how to handle that case; do not assume that adding entries will control Discover or Snap behavior.
-
In nano, save with Ctrl+O, press Enter to confirm the filename, then exit with Ctrl+X.
-
Check the values APT reads:
apt-config dump APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade apt-config dump APT::Periodic::Update-Package-ListsEach output should show the corresponding setting with a value of
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What to expect in Discover and Snap
Discover may still show updates
Disabling the two APT periodic actions does not establish that Discover will stop listing updates or displaying notifications. The Ask Ubuntu thread includes a report of Discover continuing to show updates even when the APT values were already zero, and commenters did not provide a complete diagnosis. Treat these settings as an APT-specific change, not a notification control.
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Snap updates are a separate question
The SitePoint discussion suggested that Snap updates are checked and installed automatically, but the participant clarified that they use Ubuntu and were not giving a Kubuntu-specific walkthrough. The cited material does not establish a complete method for stopping Snap refreshes on Kubuntu 20.04.
Why the graphical route may not match Kubuntu
A SitePoint reply suggested opening Ubuntu’s Software Updater and choosing Settings. The original poster said they could not find a Software Updater app in KDE; the person suggesting the route then clarified that they use Ubuntu/GNOME and were assuming basic packages were similar. That makes it a possible Ubuntu route, not a confirmed Kubuntu 20.04 procedure. The terminal method above is the concrete APT configuration change supported by the cited community answer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Restore automatic APT behavior
To reverse this change, edit the same file and restore both settings to "1":
sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20auto-upgradesAPT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1
default_type
";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1
default_type
";You can run the two apt-config dump commands again to check the restored values.
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Security trade-off
The Ask Ubuntu answer warns that disabling unattended upgrades may leave a system vulnerable. If you turn off unattended package installation, you will need another way to keep the system maintained; the cited sources do not define a replacement schedule. In particular, changing these two settings alone should not be treated as proof that all background update mechanisms have stopped.
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