Windows

Windows 10 – How to permanently disable Windows Defender

Windows 10 was released by Microsoft on July 29th of 2015. Even though several months has already passed, millions of users using it, it's not entirely prime time ready. One of the features that is pretty annoying is Windows Defender which seems to be incompatible with some applications (namely VPN) and causes CPU spikes up to 100% constantly. Fortunately there is a way to disable it.

Solution

Disabling Windows Defender in Windows 10 can be done from GUI, but the problem is it can be quickly restarted by some apps again. To permanently disable it's functionality one can add those simple registry entries.

To disable built-in antivirus simply save this code into file and run it, or go into Registry Editor and modify it manually.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender]
"DisableAntiSpyware"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection]
"DisableBehaviorMonitoring"=dword:00000001
"DisableOnAccessProtection"=dword:00000001
"DisableScanOnRealtimeEnable"=dword:00000001

[wpdm_package id='5141′]

If you would like to revert those settings, simply delete those entries or save below entries into .REG file and run it again. It should cleanup the settings for you.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender]

[wpdm_package id='5143′]

Notes

Please note that Windows Defender is security software. Before disabling it be sure what you are doing.

This post was last modified on %s = human-readable time difference 12:24

Przemyslaw Klys

System Architect with over 14 years of experience in the IT field. Skilled, among others, in Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange and Office 365. Profoundly interested in PowerShell. Software geek.

Share
Published by
Przemyslaw Klys

Recent Posts

Upgrade Azure Active Directory Connect fails with unexpected error

Today, I made the decision to upgrade my test environment and update the version of…

1 month ago

Mastering Active Directory Hygiene: Automating Stale Computer Cleanup with CleanupMonster

Have you ever looked at your Active Directory and wondered, "Why do I still have…

2 months ago

Active Directory Replication Summary to your Email or Microsoft Teams

Active Directory replication is a critical process that ensures the consistent and up-to-date state of…

7 months ago

Syncing Global Address List (GAL) to personal contacts and between Office 365 tenants with PowerShell

Hey there! Today, I wanted to introduce you to one of the small but excellent…

11 months ago

Active Directory Health Check using Microsoft Entra Connect Health Service

Active Directory (AD) is crucial in managing identities and resources within an organization. Ensuring its…

1 year ago

Seamless HTML Report Creation: Harness the Power of Markdown with PSWriteHTML PowerShell Module

In today's digital age, the ability to create compelling and informative HTML reports and documents…

1 year ago