Into Windows

  • Home
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 7
  • Privacy
You are here: Home » Windows 10 » Disable Windows Defender In Windows 10 Via Registry Or Group Policy

Disable Windows Defender In Windows 10 Via Registry Or Group Policy

Last Updated on September 26, 2020 by admin 2 Comments

RECOMMENDED: Download PC Repair tool to quickly find and fix Windows errors automatically
 

Windows 10 uses the built-in Windows Defender as the default antivirus software if you have not installed third-party antivirus software like McAfee Free Antivirus and Avast Antivirus for Windows 10.

The Windows Defender is automatically turned off when you install a third-party antivirus program. However, when Windows Defender is the default antivirus, Windows 10 10 doesn’t allow you to disable Windows Defender for obvious security reasons.

Disable Windows defender Windows 10

In short, Windows 10 doesn’t allow you to easily remove or disable the Windows Defender program.

There is a setting under the Windows Defender section of the Settings app to turn off Windows Defender real-time protection, but the catch is that Windows Defender is automatically enables itself after a short period if it finds that no other antivirus is installed on your Windows 10 PC.

If you want to run Windows 10 by disabling or Windows Defender and without installing a third-party antivirus program, you can either use Group Policy or Windows Registry to disable Windows Defender program in Windows 10.

Complete the given below instructions to disable Windows Defender in Windows 10.

NOTE: We haven’t tried this method on Window 10 Home edition and hence can’t say if it works on Home edition as well. The method works great on Windows 10 Pro.

Method 1 of 2

Disable Windows Defender using Group Policy

This method applies to the Pro edition of Windows 10. If you’re on Home edition, please refer to the directions in Method 2.

Step 1: Type Gpedit.msc in Start menu or taskbar search box and then press Enter key to open Local Group Policy Editor. If you see the User Account Control prompt, please click the Yes button to continue.

Step 2: In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows components > Windows Defender.

disable Windows defender in Windows 10 via registry or group policy step1

Step 3: On the right-side, look for the policy named Turn off Windows Defender.

Step 4: Double-click on Turn off Windows Defender to open its properties.

Step 5: Choose Enabled and then click Apply button. That’s it!

disable Windows defender in Windows 10 via registry or group policy step2

Method 2 of 2

Disable Windows Defender using Registry

Important: We recommend you create a system restore point before manually editing the Registry.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor by typing Regedit.exe in Start menu or taskbar search box and then pressing Enter key.

If and when you see the User Account Control prompt, click the Yes button to launch Registry Editor.

Step 2: Navigate to the following key in the Registry Editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

disable Windows defender in Windows 10 via registry or group policy step3

Step 3: On the right-side, right-click on the empty area, click New, click DWORD (32-bit) value, and then name it as DisableAntiSpyware.

disable Windows defender in Windows 10 via registry or group policy step4

disable Windows defender in Windows 10 via registry or group policy step5

Step 4: Double-click on DisableAntiSpyware and change its value data to 1 to disable Windows Defender.

disable Windows defender in Windows 10 via registry or group policy step6

Restore the value data to “0” to enable the Defender again.

How to remove Scan with Windows Defender entry from Windows 10 context menu guide might also be of interest to you.

Filed Under: Windows 10 Tagged: Windows Defender

Related Posts

  • How To Disable Windows Defender Permanently In Windows 10
  • How To Uninstall, Remove, Or Disable Windows Defender In Windows 7
  • Windows Defender Uninstaller: Completely Uninstall Or Remove Windows Defender From Windows 7
  • How To Manually Update Windows Defender In Windows 10
  • How To Use Windows Defender Offline Scan In Windows 10
  • How To Turn On Or Off Windows Defender Real Time Protection In Windows 10
  • Tweak Windows Registry Settings With Windows 7 Tweaker
  • Windows Defender Status Manager Adds Defender System Tray Icon & Scan With Windows Defender To Context Menu
  • How To Disable Windows Search Feature In Windows 7
  • How To Manually Update Windows Defender Offline In Windows 10/8.1
  • How To Schedule A Scan In Windows Defender In Windows 10
  • How To Backup And Restore Windows 7 Registry

Comments

  1. Karen Grube says

    October 29, 2016 at 12:14 am

    Windows Defender doesn’t seem to exist in GPEDIT or the Administrative Template I downloaded. Also, Regedit won’t allow me to edit the Windows Defender registry entries. It tells me I don’t have permission even though I’m running Regedit as admin. I’m running Windows 10 version 1607.

    Any suggestions?

  2. Andy Sayers says

    October 5, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    Let’s hope no-one is foolish enough to use any of the largely ineffective McAfee offerings either paid for or free.
    I agree that Avast free is very good, as is the free AVG product, but McAfee lets far to many threat through it’s defences.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements

Search Into Windows

Recent posts

  • How To Make Laptop Screen As Main Display On Windows 11
  • How To Automatically Delete Old Files From Recycle Bin In Windows 10/11
  • 3 Ways To Disable Automatic Driver Updates In Windows 11
  • How To Restore Personal Folders (Downloads & Documents) To Default Locations In Windows 10/11
  • How To Make Bing Search Default In Microsoft Edge
  • How To Hide Edge Sidebar On Windows 10/11 PC & Mac
  • How To Change Mouse Cursor/Pointer Color In Windows 10/11
  • How To Make Mouse Cursor/Pointer Bigger In Windows 10/11
  • What Is Windows 11 Moment 1 Update?
  • How To Upgrade To Windows 11 22H2

About us

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Into Windows