Pause a custom workflow

Question

Is there any easy way to pause an SPD workflow OOTB?

I got a workflow attached to a list and need to update all the items in the list with an additional column, and the workflow is set to start upon any changes. The workflow triggers an send-to email function if a status column is set to "Completed".

I need to update the list and prevent the workflow from firing upon those list items that had their status set to Completed. Would it work to update the workflow with a "pause until" function for one hour or something to do the changes?

Answer 1

Change the workflow to so it can only be started manually, then make the changes to the list, update all items, and finally set the workflow back to run when an item is changed.