Windows 10: Windows Defender, "Items Skipped During Scan"

I keep getting this notification after quick scans, "Windows Defender skipped an item due to exclusions or network protection settings."


To make this clear: I don't have ANY exclusions, and as far as I'm aware, I haven't changed my network protection settings in the past.


What's going on? Is this malware, or a bug with the new update? How do I fix this? I want to be reassured that I'm safe, this isn't very reassuring.

:)

 

defender scans

Hi Ian,

Thanks for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

This issue might occur if you have set any task scheduler for Windows Defender.

I suggest you to delete the task for Windows defender and check if it helps.

Follow the below steps:

• 
  Search and open Schedule tasks.
  
• 
  In the left-hand menu, open the Task Scheduler Library, then select
  Microsoft >Windows >Windows Defender.
  
• 
  Double-click Windows Defender Scheduled Scan.
  
• 
  Select the Triggers panel, then select Delete.
  

Hope it helps, reply to us with the status of your issue. We will be happy to assist you.

 

Windows defender custom scan does not scan external drives

Hi Joe,

to scan external drives using Windows Defender, follow the steps provided below.

• Open Windows Defender.
• Go to Settings tab.
• Select the Advanced option.
• tick the checkbox for Scan removable drives.

Regards.

 

Windows Defender scan

Thank you for your reply. And I understand your answer. But after each scan, I would like to know the number of items scanned, even though there are no detected malware items. ie., how many items were scanned? It is a way of knowing if any items have been
deleted. Previously the end of scan result would give the number of items scanned, but this does not always happen now.

Thank you.