Windows 10: Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows 10

How to: Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows 10

How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows 10


Windows Defender helps protect your PC against malware (malicious software) like viruses, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software. Malware can infect your PC without your knowledge: it might install itself from an email message, when you connect to the Internet, or when you install certain apps using a USB flash drive, CD, DVD, or other removable media. Some malware can also be programmed to run at unexpected times, not only when it's installed.

Windows Defender is included with Windows and helps keep malware from infecting your PC in two ways:

• Providing real-time protection. Windows Defender notifies you when malware tries to install itself or run on your PC. It also notifies you when apps try to change important settings.
• Providing anytime scanning options. Windows Defender automatically scans your PC for installed malware on a regular basis, but you can also start a scan whenever you want. Windows Defender automatically removes (or temporarily quarantines) anything that's detected during a scan.

When you use Windows Defender, it's important to have up-to-date definitions. Definitions are files that act like an ever-growing encyclopedia of potential software threats. Windows Defender uses definitions to detect any malware and to notify you of potential risks. To help keep your definitions up to date, you can set Windows Update to work with Windows Defender and automatically install new definitions as they're released. Windows Defender also checks online for updated definitions before scanning.

*Warning When you install some 3rd party antivirus (AV) programs, they may automatically turn off Windows Defender. In this case you will not be able to turn on Windows Defender again until the 3rd party AV program has been completely uninstalled.

• Uninstallers (removal tools) for common Windows antivirus software - ESET Knowledgebase
• How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee products using the Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR)
• Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Windows Defender Real-time protection for all users in Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to turn on or off Windows Defender Real-time protection.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Turn Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows Security
• Option Two: To Turn On Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows Security
• Option Three: To Turn On Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows Defender Antivirus
• Option Four: To Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in PowerShell
• Option Five: To Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Command Prompt
• Option Six: To Enable or Disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Group Policy
• Option Seven: To Enable or Disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection using a REG file

EXAMPLE: Windows Defender Real-Time Protection disabled








OPTION ONE [/i] To Turn Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows Security

*note You can use this option to turn off Windows Defender real-time protection temporarily. When it's off for a while, Windows will turn it back on automatically.

Option Six and Option Seven below will override this option.
1. Open Windows Security, and click/tap on the Virus & threat protection icon. (see screenshot below)



2. Click/tap on the Manage settings link under Virus & threat protection settings. (see screenshot below)



3. Turn off Real-time Protection. (see screenshot below)



4. Click/tap on Yes when prompted by UAC.

5. You can now close the Windows Defender Security Center if you like.





OPTION TWO [/i] To Turn On Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows Security

*note This is the default setting.

Option Six and Option Seven below will override this option.
1. Open Windows Security.

2. Do step 3 or step 4 below for how you would like to turn on Windows Defender Real-time protection.

3. Click/tap on the Turn on button under the Virus & threat protection icon, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)



4. Click/tap on the Virus & threat protection icon. (see screenshot below)




A) Click/tap on the Manage settings link under Virus & threat protection settings. (see screenshot below)



B) Turn on Real-time Protection, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshot below)



5. Click/tap on Yes when prompted by UAC.

6. You can now close the Windows Defender Security Center if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Turn On Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows Defender Antivirus

*note This is the default setting.

Option Six and Option Seven below will override this option.

Starting with Windows Defender Security Center.
1. Open Windows Defender Antivirus (%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe).

2. Click/tap on the Turn on button. (see screenshot below)



3. You can now close Windows Defender Antivirus if you like. (see screenshot below)








OPTION FOUR [/i] To Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in PowerShell

*note If you use this option to turn off Windows Defender Real-time protection, it will only be temporary. When it's off for a while, Windows will turn it back on automatically.

Option Six and Option Seven below will override this option.
1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

2. Enter the command below you want to use into PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)
(Turn on)
*Arrow Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring 0
or
*Arrow Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $false

OR

(Turn off)
*Arrow Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring 1
or
*Arrow Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true
3. When finished, you can close PowerShell if you like.












OPTION FIVE [/i] To Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Command Prompt

*note If you use this option to turn off Windows Defender Real-time protection, it will only be temporary. When it's off for a while, Windows will turn it back on automatically.

Option Six and Option Seven below will override this option.
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Enter the command below you want to use into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.
(Turn on)
*Arrow PowerShell Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring 0
or
*Arrow PowerShell Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $false

OR

(Turn off)
*Arrow PowerShell Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring 1
or
*Arrow PowerShell Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true
3. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.





OPTION SIX [/i] To Enable or Disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Group Policy

*note Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Seven below.

This option is the same as Option Seven below, and will let you disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection without being prompted it is turned off, and without it getting automatically turned back on later by Windows.

When disabled, you will not be able to do Option One, Option Two, Option Three, Option Four, or Option Five.
1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender Antivirus/Real-time Protection




3. In the right pane of Real-time Protection in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Turn off real-time protection policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Enable Windows Defender Real-time Protection
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

*note Not Configured[/B] is the default setting.

6. To Disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




7. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.





OPTION SEVEN [/i] To Enable or Disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection using a REG file

*note This option is the same as Option Six above and will let you disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection without being prompted it is turned off, and without it getting automatically turned back on later by Windows.

When disabled, you will not be able to do Option One, Option Two, Option Three, Option Four, or Option Five.

The downloadable .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection

DisableRealtimeMonitoring DWORD

(delete) = enable
1 = disable

1. Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable Windows Defender Real-time Protection
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_Windows_Defender_Real-Time_Protection.reg

Download

3. To Disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_Windows_Defender_Real-Time_Protection.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. Restart the computer to apply.

8. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Create a Windows Defender Antivirus Shortcut in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender in Windows 10
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• How to Add or Remove Exclusions for Windows Defender in Windows 10
• How to Create a Windows Defender Settings shortcut in Windows 10
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• How to Manually Scan Files, Folders, and Drives with Windows Defender in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Windows Defender Exploit Guard Controlled Folder Access in Windows 10
• How to Add Windows Defender Antivirus to Control Panel in Windows 10
• Hide or Show Virus and Threat Protection in Windows Defender Security Center in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender Block Suspicious Behaviors in Windows 10
• How to Update Security Intelligence Definition Version for Windows Defender Antivirus in Windows 10
• How to Find Windows Defender Antivirus Version in Windows 10

:)

 

Can't shutdown Windows Defender- "Some settings are managed by your organization"

See:
Windows Defender Real-time Protection - Turn On or Off in Windows 10

 

Turn off Windows Defender

See also
How to Turn On or Off Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Windows 10

 

You can disable Windows Defender Real-time Protection in Local Group Policy Editor (Run: gpedit.msc then select: Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender/Real-time Protection and enable the "Turn off Real-time Protection" setting). It won't turn back on automatically and Windows Defender doestn't even notice that there's something wrong (it will stay green).

 

I use it, WD seems to be adequate.

 

You could also use this below to completely disable Windows Defender. *Smile

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html

 

I know, but quick antivirus scan can be useful from time to time and furthermore after completely disabling Windows Defender you get that annoying window, informing you that WD is turned off, every time the computer starts.

 

Agreed. Tutorial updated to add this. *Smile

 

Using the merge registry to enable WD on the above method, have noticed that while running Emsisoft Emergency Kit (EEK) that the registry created by the utility (Enable_Windows_Defender_Real-Time_Protection.reg) is when EEK is run listed as a (from the log file):

Scan start: 11/8/2015 10:44:19 PMValue: HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2610782532-1500699501-3633152452-1000\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN -> WINDOWS DEFENDER detected: Backdoor.Win32.BlackShades (A)

realizing this may be a false/positive curious as to why it would see the registry file as such.

 

Malware usually disables WD , so it sees the key as a threat, does not matter, if it is 1 or 0.

 

On an upgrade to W10 from W7 the WD icon didn't show so I used the above utility to enable it. Then a little later ran EEK it latched on the registry file the utility created showing it as a BackDoor.BlackShades. Let me make this clear the BackDoor did not show in EEK til I ran the utility. It did not show prior to running the utility. The utility itself creates the registry file that EEK finds as a Trojan. I can remove the reg file and EEK shows nothing I can re-run the utility and EEK will again show it as a Trojan.
I am aware of the fact that malware likes to disable A/V but this particular issue is caused by triggering the icon to show in the task bar.

 

Hello tazmo, *Smile

It's a false positive by EEK since the .reg file is manually setting the group policy to disable Windows Defender real-time protection.

 

That's what I thought EEK sees it as an attachment ergo BlackShades and in this case 'enabling' does the same thing.

 

Hey brink do you know why my Windows Defender settings are like that its like i can't click on anything its grayed out could you kindly help me here is the screenshot

 

Hello AmirAcle, *Smile

It looks like Windows Defender has been disabled. Do you have a 3rd party AV program installed? If so, that would be why.