Howto Turn off Windows Defender on Windows 10

How to disable Windows Defender completely on Windows 10? There are several ways to turn off Windows Defender on Windows 10, please see the detailed instructions below.

Method 1: Disable Windows Defender with Local Group Policy

If you use Windows 10 Pro or other versions like Windows 10 Enterprise or Windows 10 Education, you can use Local Group Policy Editor to completely disable Windows Defender on your computer.

• 1. Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window.
• 2. On the Run command window, enter gpedit.msc there and press Enter or click OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor window.
• 3. In the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the key:

Computer Configuration> Administrative Templates> Windows Components => Windows Defender

Note: On Windows 10 1803 or later, the Windows Defender option is replaced with Windows Defender Antivirus, choose this and do the same.

• 4. In the right pane, find and double-click the Turn off Windows Defender option.

• 5. Select Enabled to disable Windows Defender.
• 6. Click Apply.
• 7. Click OK.

After you have completed the steps, if you notice, you will see the Windows Defender icon still displayed in the system tray. To remove this icon, you simply need to reboot your computer.

If you want to re-activate Windows Defender, perform the same steps, and at step 5, select the Not configured option, restart your computer to apply the changes.

Method 2. Disable Windows Defender with the Registry:

If you use Windows 10 Home, you cannot access Local Group Policy Editor. However, you can still disable Windows Defender using the Registry.

Note: Before performing the following steps, you should make a backup of the Registry to avoid a bad situation.

• 1. Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then enter regedit there and press Enter (or click OK) to open the Registry.
• 2. On the Registry window, navigate to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Defender

• 3. If DWORD DisableAntiSpyware is not found, right-click any space, then select New => DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• 4. Name this new key DisableAntiSpyware.
• 5. Double-click the new key you just created, set the value in the Value Data frame from 0 to 1.

• 6. Restart your computer to complete the process.

If you want to re-enable Windows Defender, perform the same steps, and in step 5 you set the value in the Value Data frame from 1 to 0, restart your computer to apply the change.

Method 3. Disable Windows Defender temporarily using the Settings application

From Windows 10 version 1803 or later, follow these instructions to temporarily disable Windows Defender:

Enter Windows Defender Security Center in the search box to open Windows Defender Security Center, click the Settings icon in the lower left corner.

Scroll down and click Virus & threat protection settings:

It is possible to turn off Real-time protection.

If you use the older Windows 10 version and want to disable Windows Defender temporarily, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Settings application.

2. On the Settings window, find and click Update & security.

3. Next click on Windows Defender.

4. Change the Real-time protection option to OFF.

Depending on the habit of using a computer, you can choose to turn off Windows Defender accordingly.