Windows 10: More guidance on getting Windows antivirus file exclusions to work

I am developing a Windows 11-based simulation app that creates multiple sometimes many background processes all running the same .exe. Startup time can be excessive because the CPU is overwhelmed by Defender Antivirus repeatedly scanning the same known good .exe over and over and over...I've tried the suggestions previously posted on this forum and have worked through copilot suggestions to exclude the .exe with no success. Steps I have tried include:- Confirming the correct path to the .exe is in the exclude list and stopping and restarting Defender and even rebooting Windows;- Going in

:)

 

Unable to Remove Exclusions from Windows Defender

Thank you for posting back. If you trust a file, file type, folder, or a process that Windows Defender Antivirus has detected as malicious, you can stop Windows Defender Antivirus from alerting you or blocking the program by adding the file to
the exclusion list. It seems that it was added automatically. We suggest that you follow these steps:

• Go to Settings and select Update & security.
• Click Windows Defender.
• Look for Exclusions and select Add an exclusion.
• Navigate to the file, folder, or process, and select Exclude this file.

If the steps provided did not work, we recommend that you boot your device to
Safe Mode and redo the process.

Let us know if you need further assistance.

 

Windows Security, Add an exclusion, Process

This link was helpful:

Configure exclusions for files opened by specific processes - Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Quote:

When you add a process to the process exclusion list, Windows Defender Antivirus won't scan files opened by that process, no matter where the files are located. The process itself, however, will be scanned unless it has also been added to the file
exclusion list.

 

exclusions list isn't working

Hi Miles, hope you're doing well. I'm Ian, and I'm happy to help you today.

Restart the Microsoft Defender Antivirus Service

1. Type "services" in the Windows search box and click on the "Services" app from the search results.

2. In the new window, locate Microsoft Defender Antivirus Service, double-click it, then click Stop and Start.

Re-Add the Windows Defender Exclusion

If you modify the file path after adding it to the exclusion list of Windows Defender, the antivirus software may fail to locate it. In such cases, you can resolve the issue by re-adding the file or folder to the exclusion list of Microsoft Defender.

This is a user-to-user support forum, and I am a fellow user.

I hope this helps, but please let me know if you need anything else.