How can I pause an automated Mac app store update in macOS Sierra? I note the question How can I pause the download on Mac App Store and then resume it later? saying that downloads can be paused in Launchpad. However, my Mac (macOS 10.12.1) has started to download an update automatically. I can see that in the Activity Monitor, where the storedownloadd is top of the network received bytes listing. And, now I notice it, I see the Launchpad icon in the dock is showing a download bar, "1.05GB of 1.54 GB", but right-clicking it gives me no pause option. It's probably the Xcode update, since that is listed as due and they are typically GBytes. Launchpad shows no Xcode icon, and no other icon in Launchpad shows downloading. Right-click of the app store icon in the dock doesn't give me a pause option. The updates screen in the app store doesn't seem to offer a pause option.

How do I pause a Mac app store automatic update in Sierra, please? I need to stop the Mac using all my network bandwidth for the next few hours.
Open System Preferences and you'll find an item App Store there.

Disable the "Download newly available updates in the background" option. This way your Mac will still let you know when new updates are available, but it will not download them automatically.