diff --git a/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.darwin.ts b/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.darwin.ts
index 99923f036fe88c65c97117d507af19e1b63301e4..768cbcad49fc59eecccb13bd9ac0381c1467e3b8 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.darwin.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.darwin.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,10 @@ export class DarwinUpdateService extends AbstractUpdateService {
 
 	private onError(err: string): void {
 		this.logService.error('UpdateService error:', err);
-		this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, err));
+
+		// only show message when explicitly checking for updates
+		const message: string | undefined = !!context ? err : undefined;
+		this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, message));
 	}
 
 	protected buildUpdateFeedUrl(quality: string): string | undefined {
diff --git a/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.linux.ts b/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.linux.ts
index 2439e47bacbff29fddc3c8afe756f346ae8781e2..62a9577559aef598d7171921a08caa7022858a5c 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.linux.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.linux.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,10 @@ export class LinuxUpdateService extends AbstractUpdateService {
 						}
 						*/
 					this.telemetryService.publicLog('update:notAvailable', { explicit: !!context });
-					this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, err.message || err));
+
+					// only show message when explicitly checking for updates
+					const message: string | undefined = !!context ? (err.message || err) : undefined;
+					this.setState(State.Idle(UpdateType.Archive, message));
 				});
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.win32.ts b/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.win32.ts
index b4d3a30a3f0d0f52ee0fba116e322c871edbe808..7af4012a46b4813751baf91460ae1505f6466a04 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.win32.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/update/electron-main/updateService.win32.ts
@@ -172,7 +172,10 @@ export class Win32UpdateService extends AbstractUpdateService {
 					}
 					*/
 				this.telemetryService.publicLog('update:notAvailable', { explicit: !!context });
-				this.setState(State.Idle(getUpdateType(), err.message || err));
+
+				// only show message when explicitly checking for updates
+				const message: string | undefined = !!context ? (err.message || err) : undefined;
+				this.setState(State.Idle(getUpdateType(), message));
 			});
 	}