Any day now and I will hit the three year anniversary of picking up a guitar for the first time. My practising has been decently consistent and in large part thanks to Justin’s amazing lessons and structure there has been reasonable progress given I’m an old codger who recently turned 66. But one problem has proved really stubborn: unwanted noise when I change chords. It’s as if my fingers stick to the strings and create random pull-off sounds as I lift my fingers to form the next shape. A classic example is a fingerpicking exercise I do which involves a fairly straightforward swap between C major and A minor and back to C major again. It sounds bad! What can I introduce into my practice routine to improve in this very specific area?
This sounds like you are moving fingers before they are off the string. Practice with very slow lift then move motions until you can speed up a bit for the real tempo you need to perform.
Also, if you are pressing too hard, you will kind of embed the strings in your fingers and that can create a sticking that will make something like a pickoff. Pay attention to pressing just hard enough to keep the string on the fret, and make sure your fingers are pressing as close to the fret as reasonable. If you are far behind the fret, you will get a buzz when you leave that fret for another.
Another idea might be to practice muting a chord with the fingers holding it. Play the chord, then mute it by lifting fingers just enough to quiet the sound. This can get you used to good lifts off a chord that would be quiet.
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Some good ideas from @sequences
I’m surprised you mention C and Am as a pair. That chord change involves only one finger movement. 1st and 3rd fingers stay where they are for both chords and do not need to move.
How old are your strings?
Is the action of your strings (height above fretboard) high in the first few frets? If yes, maybe have a tech file the nut slots.
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Thanks, both. I will try the lift before the move and slow down the practice tempo. Yes, just the one finger movement in the chord change which is why it’s so frustrating! The middle finger does slide though to make room for the incoming ring finger so that adds an unhelpful squeak into the mix! I haven’t changed the strings since I bought the guitar - three years. They seem fine in every respect, but what do I know! This is only an issue on my acoustic, btw. If I do the same movement on my unplugged electric the movement is almost silent. I think part of the problem is that my C chord still involves a bit of a stretch for my ring finger so it does spring away when I move it which makes it hard to control.
Please change them … strings corrode and deteriorate. Three years is very, very old. 
I thought you might say that! I will do.
As has been said by Richard_close2u if you are practising consistently 3 years is too long to go without changing the strings. You might also consider getting a fretboard and string cleaner - your fingers can transfer sweat and dirt on to the strings which will affect the sound and feel. It’s worth washing your hands before you play as well.
Maybe put some lemon oil on your fretboard too Richard. Hydrate it a bit while ya got the strings off (assuming ya got a unfinished fretboard).
When I change strings, I do the lemon oil thing. After I’m done, the fretboard seems a shade more slippery from the oil.
As for C to Am.
Maybe try doing C to Am7 and see if ya can get that sounding good. C to Am7 is just minus the fretted C to open A string. Get that good then move on to moving your ring finger over to the A on G string for the Am?
Might help, I don’t know, just a idea.