Windows PC comes with Windows Defender for the overall protection of your PC. However, antivirus prompts can sometimes be disturbing. You might get these notifications when visiting a website without an SSL certificate, downloading applications, or copying files from external devices to your PC. For these reasons, many prefer disabling the default antivirus on Windows 10 and 11. Some disable it when installing a third-party antivirus on their PC.
Microsoft is making it more and more difficult to disable the default antivirus of Windows. With earlier iterations of Windows, the antivirus could be disabled from within the Windows Defender application, but now it is more difficult than ever. If you are looking for a way to disable Antivirus on Windows 11/10, this article will guide you on how to do it.
Steps to Disable Antivirus On Windows 11/10
There are two ways to disable the default antivirus on Windows 11 and 10, i.e., through Registry Editor, Group Policy Editor, or Autoruns. Let’s discuss how-
Through Registry Editor
The first way to disable Antivirus on Windows 11/10 is through the Registry Editor. To do so, follow the steps given below-
- Open the Start Menu by clicking on the Start icon the taskbar.
- Search for Windows Security and open it.
- In the Windows Security window, click on Virus & threat protection to open it.
- Next, click on the Manage Settings option.
- Scroll down to the Tamper Protection section and then turn off the toggle under it.
- You will be given a UAC prompt; click on Yes to continue.
- Now, press Windows + R key combo; this will open the Run Dialog Box.
- Here, type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor.
- In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following address-
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender
- Right-click on the Windows Defender folder on the left sidebar, and then from the context menu that opens up, click on Permissions.
- In the Permissions window, click on the Advanced button.
- Click on the Change button next to the Owner option.
- On the next window that opens up, click on the Advanced option.
- Now, click the Find Now button.
- Select the admin account, click OK and then OK again to save the changes.
- Now check the checkbox next to Replace owner on subcontainers and objects and Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object.
- Click on the Apply button. You will get a Windows Security prompt; click on Yes to confirm.
- Then finally, click on OK. Now only Permissions for Windows Defender will remain open.
- Under the Permissions for Administrators section, you will see certain permissions you can allow or deny. Here, check the Allow option next to Full Control. Click on Apply and then on OK to save changes.
- Ensure you are on the Windows Defender folder in the Registry Editor.
- Right-click on the right side, click on New, and then on DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Name the new value as DisableAntivirus. Similarly, create two more values with the name DisableAntiSpyware and ServiceStartStates.
- You will have to edit all the new values you have created and each of their Value Data to 1. To edit the value, double-click on it, and you can change the value data. Once done, click on OK.
Through Group Policy Editor
You can also disable antivirus on Windows 11/10 through the Group Policy Editor. However, do note that this step can only be used with Pro and Enterprise version of Windows and not Home version. This can be done by following the steps given below-
- Press the Windows + I key combo, which will open the Settings app on your PC.
- On the left sidebar, click on Privacy & Security, and then on the right side, click on Windows Security.
- Now, click on the Virus & threat Protection option.
- Next, click on the Manage Settings option under the Virus & threat protection settings.
- Now turn off the toggle under Tamper Protection. Confirm turning it off by clicking on Yes when the UAC prompt appears.
- Press Windows + R key combo, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
- In the Group Policy Editor, head to the following address-
- Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Windows Component>Microsoft Defender Antivirus
- Right-click on Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus and then click on Edit.
- Select Enabled and then click on Apply and then on OK.
- Now, right-click on Allow antimalware service to remain running always, and then click on the Edit option from the menu that opens up.
- Next, select the Disabled option. After that, click on Apply and then click on OK.
- Now, double-click on the Real-time Protection folder to open it.
- Here, double-click on Turn off real-time protection to edit it.
- Select Enabled, click on Apply, and then on OK.
- Now, open the Start Menu, and type Task Scheduler in the search bar. Click on the first option that opens up to open the Task Scheduler.
- Here, head to the following address-
- Task Scheduler Library> Microsoft> Windows> Windows Defender.
- Now, right-click on Windows Defender Cache Maintenance and then on Disable to disable it. Similarly, disable Windows Defender Cleanup, Windows Defender Verification, and Windows Defender Scheduled Scan.
- Now, press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut. In the Run Dialog Box that opens up, type gpupdate/force and press Enter.
- Restart your PC, and Windows Defender will get disabled.
Through Autoruns
Another way to disable the Antivirus on Windows 11 is through Autoruns. Given below are the steps to do so-
- Click on this link to head to the Autoruns download page. Click on Download Autoruns and Autorunsc to download it on your PC.
- Open Windows Explorer on your PC and click Downloads on the left sidebar to head to the Downloads folder. From here, extract the Autoruns zip file and copy it to your desktop.
Note- If the file is downloaded to another location, head to that location in Windows Explorer.
- Click on the Start icon on the taskbar, type Windows Security, and press Enter to open it.
- Here, click on the Virus & threat protection option.
- Next, click on Manage Settings; you will find this option under Virus & threat protection settings section.
- Here, turn off the toggle for Real-time protection and Tamper Protection.
- Now, open the Run Dialog Box on your PC. Here, type msconfig and click on OK.
- In the System Configuration window, click on the Boot tab.
- Here, check the checkbox for Safe Boot, and then under it, select Minimal.
- Click on Apply and then on OK to save the changes.
- Restart your PC, and it will boot your PC in safe mode.
- Double-click on the Autoruns folder to open it. Double-click on the extracted Autoruns64 file to run it.
- Upon running the file, you will get the license agreement; click on Agree to continue.
- Now, head to the Services tab in the Autoruns window.
- Click on Options and then uncheck the Hide Windows Entries. This will unhide the services on the Autoruns if they are hidden.
- From the list of services, uncheck the checkbox saying WinDefend box.
- Now, open the System Configuration on your PC.
- Here, under the General tab, select Normal Startup.
- Click on Apply and then on OK to save the changes.
- Now, restart your PC to boot out of safe mode.
- Windows Defender will now be disabled on your PC.
Conclusion
These were all the ways to disable antivirus on Windows 11. Once you disable the antivirus on your PC, it will no longer be protected from viruses, malware, and various online threats. If you are disabling the default antivirus, ensure you have a third-party antivirus on your PC to protect it from cyber threats.
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