How to Turn Off Windows Defender

Windows Defender is Microsoft’s anti-malware component for Windows. Microsoft released it with Windows Vista and Windows 7, and now Windows becomes the best integral security component of Microsoft’s latest operating system. Windows Defenders offer anti-malware tools when windows 10 is installed and booted up. It might be enabled by default in Windows 10 or you’ll need to do it.

Windows Defender is surprisingly well-featured for free anti-virus, and to some, it might be all the cyber security they might ever need. With cloud-powered protection, real-time analytics, and the ability to remove detected malware threats, Windows Defender is no cyber security weakling.

If you use any third-party security packages you will need to download and install the software and they always not free. But in Windows Defender, there’s no need to install anything, or download anything besides routine and necessary updates that can be handled through Windows Update. Windows Defender is built into the Windows operating system and just turning on Windows 10 will give you full access to the antivirus platform.

As Window Defender may enable by default on Windows 10 Installed or booted up, if you want to turn it off due to any reason for temporary or permanently turn off, you can do it easily. If you want to know how to turn off Windows Defender, make sure you follow the below steps. In this article, we will discuss the step-by-step process of turn on or turn off windows defender. Stay-Read and Learn.

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 10

Make sure that mentioned process below will not disabled windows defender permanently; it will turn off windows defender temporarily. This is not a permanent solution, but it’s the best way to disable the Windows 10 virus protection to make system changes or install an application that will usually be blocked by the solution. Learn how you can turn off windows defender temporarily in Windows 10 step-by-step.

Steps

Note: Remember the Microsoft Defender will turn itself back on the next time you restart your computer.

1. First of all, make sure you have turned on your PC. Now open Start button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
2. Now, open Settings. This will be a gear-shaped Settings icon on the lower-left side of the Start menu, Doing so open the Settings Windows.
3. Click Update & Security in the bottom row of Settings options. Click the Window Security tab on the upper-left side of the Window.
4. Here, you will find the Virus & Threat Security option below the “Protection areas” heading near the top of the page. Click on it to open the Windows Defender Windows.
5. Now, click on the Virus & threat protection setting in the middle of the page. On the same page, you can find the enabled or disabled options listed.
6. Click on the blue “On” switch below the “Real-time protection” heading, then click Yes prompted. Doing so will turn off the real-time scanning feature of Windows Defender.

How to Turn Off Windows Defender Permanently

Before getting into this, make sure that you can turn off Windows Defender Permanently via Registry, and editing Registry can be risky, so proceed at your own risk. We recommend that stay on Temporary disabled windows defender. To prevent it a risk or better security, make sure to take a full backup. One more thing that you should know, this method works only on Window 10 Home.

Alternatively, you can go to Start menu and search for Run and open it.

1. Hold down the Window key, and press the R key. Make sure that while holding the Window key you have to press the R key. Doing so will open the Run command on your PC in the lower-left corner of the screen.
2. Type “Regedit” in the Run and click OK. You may ask for permission, click Yes. Head to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender.
3. You can also copy and paste the above address into the Registry’s address bar. Now, on the right-hand side, right-click in the empty area, choose New >DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Type in DisableAntiSpyware and press the Enter key. Double-click the DisableAntiSpyware key. Type 1 in Value and hit Ok. Restart your computer.

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 8.1

Disabling Windows Defender in Windows 8.1 is quite easy, make sure to follow the steps.

1. Hold down the Windows key and press the C key. Click Search and type in Windows Defender and open it.
2. Select Tools from the top-bar and then choose Options.
3. On the left-hand side, click on Administrator. Now, on the right-hand side, uncheck the box named Use this program, click Ok.
4. It may that User Account Controls asks for permission, click Yes.

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 7

Turning off Windows Defender on Windows 7 is quite similar to Windows 8.1 process.

Click Windows Key and search for Windows Defender. Open it.

Choose Tools > Options > Administrator. On the right-hand side, uncheck the box names Use this program, click Ok.

You may be asked for permission, click Yes.

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows Vista

To turn off Window Defender in Windows Vista, follow the below-mentioned steps:

1. Tap Windows Key and search for Windows Defender. Open it.
2. . Click Tools from the top-bar and then choose Options. This shall give you more options to change the way Windows defender works.
3. On the left- of the Windows, click on Administrator. Now, on the right-hand side, uncheck the box named Use this program, click Ok. Save your changes by clicking on the Save button.
4. Click the Close button and restart your computer to make sure your changes are applied.

How to Turn On Windows Defender in Windows 10

If you’ve disabled Microsoft Defender (formerly Windows Defender) in the time since your last restart, you can turn it back on from within the Windows Security Program. In case, if you recently installed an antivirus program that turned Off Microsoft Defender, you will need to uninstall the antivirus program before you can use Microsoft Defender.

Turning Off and On Microsoft Defender have a similar process. To do so, follow the step below:

1. First of all, make sure you have turned on your PC. Now open the Start button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
2. Now, open Settings. This will be a gear-shaped Settings icon on the lower-left side of the Start menu, Doing so open the Settings Windows.
3. Click Update & Security in the bottom row of Settings options. Click the Window Security tab on the upper-left side of the Window.
4. Here, you will find the Virus & Threat Security option below the “Protection areas” heading near the top of the page. Click on it to open the Windows Defender Windows. Click on Windows Security Windows by clicking the square in the top-right corner to expand the Windows before proceeding.
5. Now, click on the Virus & threat protection setting in the middle of the page. On the same page, you can find the enabled or disabled options listed.
6. Hit the “Off” switch below the “Real-time protection” heading. You can find this heading near the top of the Window.
7. Click Yes prompted. Doing so will turn back On Windows Defender.

How to Uninstall Third-Party Antivirus Program

Note: In case you don’t know or remember the name of the antivirus program name, you can narrow it down by showing the most recently installed program and working backward from there. To do so, you can find the Sort by option above, then click Install date in the drop-down.

If you know the name of antivirus name, skip this step.

1. Open Start in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Now click on the gear-shaped icon in the bottom-left corner of the Start menu. The Settings Window will open.
2. Under Settings, click on Apps in the middle of the Settings Window.
3. Now, you need to find that antivirus program that you want to uninstall.
   • If you didn’t intentionally install an antivirus program, you will probably find the program you need to uninstall near the top of the list of programs if your Windows Defender only recently turned off.
4. Click the program’s name to expand the program’s name to display an Uninstall button. Hit Uninstall under the program’s name.
5. Now, when prompted click Uninstall. Make sure before clicking on prompts, because clicking on-screen uninstall prompts, making sure to select the “Delete all files” (or similar) option if asked whether you want to keep residual files and apps.
6. When you install any program, it will automatically add some additional programs to handle things like web security, if you see the other programs that come from the same developer or have similar names to the program you just uninstalled, uninstalled them as well before proceeding.
7. Now, restart your computer to apply the changes you made recently. After that your Windows Defender program should be back up and running.

How to Turn Off Avast Antivirus

It may that you need to turn off avast antivirus due to any error or other problems. Disabling Avast Antivirus temporarily will turn of all of the applications of the active shield on your computer. On the other side, they can sometimes block the installation of certain software. Avast Free Antivirus not only boasts a range of security-related features but in addition packs several beneficial utilities that other antivirus companies usually include in their premium suites.

Here, you can find how to disable avast antivirus in Windows 10.

1. Click on the Start button at the right bottom corner of the taskbar and right-click on the Avast Antivirus icon. Doing so will open the Avast Antivirus.
2. Go to Avast Shield Control, now specify the time for how long you have to disable Avast Antivirus.
3. After selecting the option, confirm the operation.

How to Disable Avast Antivirus From Settings

To disable avast antivirus from the setting, read and follow the below-mentioned step:

If you want to enable avast again, follow the same steps to return to the ‘Core Shields” in the avast app, and then click the toggle switch at the top to re-enable avast antivirus

1. Double click on the Avast icon on your desktop to open it. Now, click on the menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper-right corner of the Avast main Window. This displays the menu.
2. Click on Settings (gear icon). Now, click on Protection. This is the second option in the panel to the left. It has an icon that resembles a lock, doing so will display the protection menu
3. Click on the Core option. You can find this in the second option in the left panel. Doing so will display the settings menu for the shields that block viruses and malware in real-time.
4. Click on toggle switch next to “Core Shields” at the top of the page. Doing so will disable all shields that provide Avast virus protection. If you want you can also disable individual shields. Scroll down and click on the File Shield, Behavior Shield, Web Shield, or Mail Shield tab. Then uncheck the checkbox at the top of the menu below the tab to disable the shield.
5. Choose the timeline for how long time you want to disable the Avast Antivirus. You will get four options here to choose:
   • Disable for 10 Minutes
   • Disable for 1 hour
   • Disable until computer is restarted
   • Disable permanently
6. Hit Ok. Doing so will disable Avast Antivirus.

How to Turn Off Windows Update in Windows 10

In the Latest Windows, Windows Updates are automatic. This is because Microsoft loves what they design in Windows. And they don’t exactly have faith that end-users will perform the updates themselves. So, Microsoft implements automatic updates to make your life easier while keeping your operating system smooth.

However, automatic updates can really cause a headache. It may that you want to turn it off. This article will walk you through everything you need to know about stopping an update and reversing it if need be. We have included few ways to disable the Windows update. Let’s review them:

How to Turn Off Windows Update Permanently

If you want so you can disable Window 10 updates by following these steps:

Note: Performing this action will permanently disable Windows automatic updates. If you’d like to enable it again, follow the same steps as above and toggle the option to ‘Automatic.”

1. Press the Window + R keyboard shortcut, doing so will open the Run command. Now, type service.msc to access your PC’s service settings.
2. Now, double click “Windows update service” to access the General Settings. Select “Disables” from the setup dropdown.
3. Once it’s done, click on Ok and restart your PC. It will apply all the changes you made.

How to Turn Off Windows Update via Settings

In any case, if the above method doesn’t work for you as you need it, you can also try this method to update Windows. In this section, you will learn how you can turn off Windows update settings through your PC’s actual Windows Settings. This option may be simpler for some depending on how tech-savvy you are, but it is not a permanent solution.

First of all, go to your Windows Start menu and click on the Settings cog. Now scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Updates & Security.”

Now, click on the “Advanced Options” tab. Doing so will open more options. Here, you can choose a date from the drop-down that you’d like to pause automatic updates too.

As we already mentioned, this is not a permanent solution but it’s great to know if you only need to pause your updates for a while. Make sure that stopping your updates means there is no worry that your PC will severely out of date as the automatic updates will eventually turn back on by themselves.

How to Set a Metered Connection

Another way to disable Windows 10 updates on your PC.As you know that Windows 10 PC won’t update without meeting the internet connection requirements. When you set a metered internet connection, automatic updates will not take place. To set a metered connection, follow the steps:

Note: We do not recommend this way to disable window updates because other systems like OneDrive will also fail to update or backup information. But, it should stop automatic updates on your PC.

1. Open your PC and click on the Start button. Now go to the search bar and type “Network & Internet” in the search bar and click on it. Once it opens, click on “Wifi” on the left-hand side.
2. Now, click on “Manage known network.” Doing so will open the network connection you usually use to use the internet. On this page, click on the “Wi-Fi” network you use and click on ‘Properties.”
3. Here, you will find the Metered Connection option. Now, you can toggle “Metered Connection”

How to Uninstall Window 10 Updates

Sometimes it may that the Update is already installed but you aren’t happy with the outcome. Unlike other OS, windows give you the option to uninstall updates as you see fit. Let’s find out how to uninstall Windows 10 Updates.

1. First of all, go to your Windows Start menu and click on the Settings cog. Now scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Updates & Security.”
2. Click “Delivery Optimization.” You can find it in the right menu list. Then click “View Update History.” Here, click on “Uninstall Updates.”
3. Now, you can choose to uninstall the updates as per your choice. We recommend thinking twice before uninstalling window 10 updates because if you are doing it for some normal reason such as the newest updates is causing issues with other software on your computer or slow speed; it’s worth researching before going straight into an uninstall frenzy.

Summary

Hey guys! This was the article on how to turn off windows defender whether temporarily or permanently. If you’re going with safety issues in your PC and thing to upgrade to third-party high-security options, you may need to first disable the Windows Defender. If you want to know to do so, you can follow this guide. Here, we have discussed another important disable point in Window 10, like how to disable updates and avast antivirus. Follow the steps and explore your knowledge or ease your task.