How to Turn Off Windows Defender Temporarily and Permanently

Disable Windows Defender – If you are a Windows user, especially Windows 10, of course you know the default application called Windows Defender, this is the default anti-virus on Windows which is of course very useful in protecting your PC or laptop from viruses and malware. But under certain conditions, you definitely need to turn off Windows Defender for a while, especially when installing new software that is not official, because it will definitely be considered a virus by anti-virus.

If you are confused how how to turn off Windows Defender, We will provide two steps to be able to disable the Windows default anti-virus. You can choose one of them.

Temporarily Turning Off Windows Defender

If you want to disable Windows Defender but only temporarily, you can follow the steps that we will explain below. For the record, if you turn off Windows Defender temporarily, make sure your PC/Laptop is not connected to the internet first because with Windows Defender off, of course, the device does not have anti-malware.

For how you can follow each step below:

1. First Open the menu Start on Windows 10. If you are using Search Navbar at the bottom you just see there is a search box.

Method 1 Disabling Windows Defender — Methods 1 & 2 Disabling Windows Defender

2. After that type the keyword “Windows Security” (See image above), Click to open the application.

3. After that you will be redirected to the main page Windows Security and select menu Virus & Threat Protection then select Manage Settings.

Method 2 Disabling Windows Defender — How to Disable Windows Defender

4. After that you will be taken to a page where you can activate and deactivate Windows Defender easily. What you need to note is that you can disable Real-Time Protection to the Off position. (view image)

Method 3 Disabling Windows Defender — Change the toggle from the On position to Off or until it is gray

Here is an explanation Real-time Protection and Cloud-delivered protection:

Real-time Protection : Has a function to activate protection against viruses and malware, if it is in the ON position, it means that the anti-virus from Windows Defender is being activated or working, if it is in the OFF position, it means that the anti-virus is not working.
Cloud-delivered protection : While this feature serves to notify Microsoft of device security problems which will be used as update data to patch bugs in existing security.

You can use this method to temporarily turn off Windows Defender, after that you can reactivate it in the same way as the steps above.

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Permanently Disabling Windows Defender Via Registry

This next method if you want to disable Windows Defender permanently. I myself do not recommend doing this unless you have another antivirus as a replacement. In addition, the way to turn off Windows Defender permanently is intended for friends who already understand in advance about the Windows operating system because it will play on the system, especially in the registry section. here’s how to do it right away.

Before turning off Windows Defender permanently, you should first backup the Registry that you want to change using the Registry Editor.

1. First open the App Registry Editor, the method is the same as opening Windows Security above by typing in the Windows start menu, or you can press the . button Windows + R to display the Run menu and Type “regedit“.

2. After the Registry Editor appears (as in the picture below), then look for the Windows Defender directory, how to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >> Click SOFTWARE folder >> POLICIES FOLDER >> MICROSOFT and click Windows Defender

Method 4 Disabling Windows Defender — The folder is in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows Defender.

3. After finding it, now is the final step to turn off Windows Defender. Buddy can look for a file named DisableAntiSpyware, if you don’t find it, you have to make it yourself.

DisableAntiSpyware to turn off Windows Defender

4. To make it right click on the Windows Defender folder, then click the New menu then select DWORD (32-Bit) Value and Fill in Number 0 in Value data then Enter.

5. If you already have a file DisableAntiSpyWare, double-click it, a pop-up will appear and fill in the value data to “1” which means DisableAntiSpyWare is active, if you want to disable it, change the number to “0”.

6. After that Restart your PC or Laptop and Windows Defender that you have will not work or be permanently disabled, but can still be changed back to active by changing the data value to 0.

The final word

Disabling Windows Defender is a step that is not recommended, because this is either a security system or antivirus and malware brought by the Windows OS. But if the situation requires you to disable it, maybe the first way is the most suitable, namely by temporarily turning it off and turning it back on.

Don’t forget to always update the Windows Defender database, because it’s also very important for the security system for your PC or laptop device.