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How to Enable Windows Defender in Windows 8 or 8.1

For a long time, Windows has equipped their operating system with an antivirus called Windows Defender or what was formerly known as Windows Defender Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).

In principle, Windows Defender has the same function as other antiviruses such as Avast, Eset or Avira. The main function of Windows Defender is to protect your PC or laptop from virus or malware attacks which are certainly very dangerous if left alone. As you know that viruses or malware can mess up your PC, including important files that are in it.

Windows Defender can be an alternative antivirus that you can use to protect your PC. By default, Windows Defender is already installed on windows 8/8.1. Now for how to activate Windows Defender on Windows 8/8.1 (or disable it), you can listen to the steps below.

Knowing Windows Defender is active or not

To find out whether Windows Defender is active or not, you just have to open the Windows Defender program. If you get a notification that says This app is turned off by group policy, means Windows Defender on your PC is still not active (turn off).

how to activate windows defender which turns off by group policy

How to Activate Windows Defender in Windows 8

1. First of all you have to open Local Group Policy Editor. One way is by pressing the button Windows + R, type gpedit.msc then press Enter.

how to enable windows defender that disabled windows 8

2. On the left panel of the menu Local Group Policy Editor, choose Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender. After that, to activate windows defender just click 2x Turn off Windows Defender.

how to activate windows defender windows 8

3. Select Not Configured or Disabled to activate Windows Defender, then select OK. For the record, options Not Configured is the default setting of windows. If you want to deactivate again, just select Enabled.

windows defender can't be activated windows 8

4. After that, open Windows Defender. You can find it in Start Menu by typing “windows defender“.

open windows defender on windows 8

5. Then click the button Start Now. Windows Defender is ready to protect your PC or laptop from the threat of viruses or malware.

How to Activate Windows Defender in Windows 8/8.1

Actually Windows Defender is quite tough in protecting your PC. But that doesn’t mean Windows Defender is the best antivirus. You can customize which antivirus you want to use, whether it’s Windows Defender or another antivirus. Most importantly, never install both antivirus at the same time, because it will crash.

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