How to Turn On/Off, Disable/Enable Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows 10

With the recent update of Windows 10 OS to version 2004, the formerly known Windows Defender has also been updated to Microsoft Defender Antivirus with better security features.

Back in 2015 its performance in defending the OS from virus and threats was not that impressive but with the updated name and enhanced features – virus protection, firewall, device and app security etc. it scored 100% detection rate of zero-day malware attacks in the recent AV-Test and has become a well-known and a better antivirus software in the industry comparing to the previous one.

This article provides the right way to turn on-off Microsoft Defender for Windows 10 updated version. It also includes how to disable Microsoft Defender so that it doesn’t turn on by itself after you restart your computer.

Make sure you follow the steps thoroughly because if you miss any step or perform the steps in a different way it might cause system crash or maybe technical issues.

 

How to Turn Off Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 10

 

1. Click on the Windows Start

2. Open the Settings

3. Click on the Update & Security option which will be in the bottom of Settings

4. Go to Windows Security and click on “Open Windows Security”.

5. Windows Security window opens, click on Virus & threat protection.

6. In the Virus & threat protection window you will find “Windows Defender Antivirus option”, click on it.

7. Turn Off the “Periodic scanning”.

8. Click Yes when prompted to turn off the Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

NOTE – This will only turn off the Microsoft Defender which will turn back on after you restart your computer or switch back on after you shut it down.

If you wish to disable it permanently then follow the below steps to do so. Make sure you follow it the way it has been given to prevent any technical issues.

(In case you don’t want to disable it, you can skip this process and scroll to the process to turn on the Microsoft Defender Antivirus.)

How to Disable Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 10

In order to successfully complete the process without any interruption do it as an “Administrator”. Now let’s begin:

1. Click on the Windows Start

2. Type “regedit” in the Start menu Search

3. When the regedit application appears, click to open it. (regedit is also called Registry Editor)

4. When prompted, click

5. The Registry Editor window opens. There will be couple of folders like – “HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT”, “HKEY_CURRENT_USER”, “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE”.

6. Click on “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” folder to expand it.

7. The expansion will disclose some more folders. Click on “Software” folder to expand it.

8. Under “Software” folder expansion, go down and Click on “Policies” folder.

9. Under “Policies” folder expansion, click on “Microsoft” folder.

10. Now click on “Microsoft Defender” folder.

11. Right-Click on “Microsoft Defender” folder.

12. Select New after the right-click opens up a menu.

13. After that click on D-WORD (32-Bit) Value.

14. On the white-space of the window, you can see one new file appears prompting you to write a name for it.

15. Rename it to “DisableAntiSpyware”.

16. Now open the “DisableAntiSpyware” file by double-clicking on it.

17. A pop-up window appears, go to Value data section of that window.

18. Change the value number to “1” and base should be Hexadecimal.

19. Click Ok.

20. Lastly, you need to Restart your computer to finish the process.

 

 

NOTE – If you want to enable the Microsoft Defender Antivirus again, follow the same steps just change the Value data to “0” from “1”.

The process below will help you to turn on the Microsoft Defender Antivirus. In case you have installed a third-party antivirus, you need to uninstall that antivirus if you wish to use Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

 

How to Turn On Microsoft Defender Antivirus in Windows 10

1. Go to Windows Settings from the Start

2. Click on Update & Security from the Settings

3. Go to Windows Security and click on “Open Windows Security”.

4. Windows Security window opens, click on Virus & threat protection.

5. Look below on the Virus & threat protection window you will find “Windows Defender Antivirus option”, click on it.

6. Turn On the “Periodic scanning”.

7. Click Yes when prompted to turn on the Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

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