Permanently Disable Windows Defender Antivirus Security On Windows 10

Microsoft Windows Defender is one of the widely used free Antivirus security software. It comes in-built with the Windows operating system which makes it difficult to permanently disable Windows Defender on Windows 10. But there are workarounds that you can use to turn off Windows defender temporary or permanently.

If you are thinking you can simply uninstall Windows Defender from your PC. Forget about it. We can’t do that. Its hardcoded in the Windows system and cannot be uninstalled. But as I said there is a workaround to this.

Windows defender helps your Windows PC to stay secured from various ransomware, malware, trojans, viruses or hacking attempts. Then why one should want to disable Windows Defender? There are a few reasons for it. I will list down some of them later in this article.

With Windows Defender’s Real Time Protection, your PC will always be secured from various cyber thefts.

Windows Defender service runs its scan in the background while you are using your PC, it makes sure that everything is secured on your PC.

For many Windows 10 users with primary low hardware specifications, running Windows Defender with Real Time Protection ON may result in slowness in Windows 10.

But this is not the only reason why users want to disable Windows Defender. Here are some more reasons:

• Microsoft Windows Defender is not allowing you to install any third party software that you want to use.
• You may want to install third party Antivirus programs like Avira Antivirus, BullGuard Antivirus, etc.
• It’s blocking a feature of an app that you are using.

Must Read: 8 Ways To Free Up Drive Space In Windows 10

How to Disable Windows Defender in Windows 10

You can turn Windows Defender firewall on or off from System and Security settings temporary.

But when you restart your PC it will be re-enabled again. This option is good if you just want to stop Windows defender for a short period of time.

• Control Panel > System And Security > Windows Defender Firewall > Turn Windows Defender Firewall On or Off

If you don’t know how to get to the Control Panel in Windows 10 read this article: Where is control Panel in Windows 10?

By the way, you can also specify inbound and outbound rules for your application in the Windows Defender firewall.

These rules let Windows Firewall know what to block and what to unblock. I will not be explaining this in detail for now as this topic needs another article. I will try to publish one soon on this website.

Now let’s learn the two methods using which you can turn off Windows Defender permanently.

Permanently Disable Windows Defender Through Registry

Most of the inbuilt Windows 10 programs have their services running at the background. And most of them allow the Windows administrator user to Disable or Enable a service.

Windows Defender also has a service of its own called “Windows Defender Antivirus Service“. But we cannot disable or stop it, as all the options are greyed out. Have a look:

So that’s why we have to go through the Windows registry path. Windows OS registry can be modified to switch off Windows Defender.

You should be very careful when making any changes to the Windows registry as it may break your PC. But do not worry just follow the instructions as it is and everything will be alright.

• Press Windows Key + R. And type in Regedit in the run window and hit Enter. You will now see the Registry Editor Window in Windows 10.
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

• Now place your mouse pointer on the Windows Defender folder as you see in the above screenshot and then right-click > Export to take a backup (to be on a safe side) in case something goes wrong you can easily restore the registry key.
• Once you are done with the Windows registry backup, you need to create a new key, right click on the right frame, New –> DWORD (32-BIT) Value.

• Rename the value with “DisableAntiSpyware“, then double-click on it to edit the value, change it to 1 to disable Windows Defender in Windows 10 permanently.
• Click OK to save the changes you made.
• Restart your PC.

Tip: If you are wondering how to turn on Windows Defender in Windows 10 again? Just change the value to ‘0’ (numeric zero) or simply delete the key.

The other method is to modify Group Policy, lets see how to do that.

Disable Windows Defender Using Group Policy

Group Policy modification is another workaround to Stop Windows Defender permanently. We will use the Windows default Local Group Policy Editor to make changes.

Please note that if you are using Windows 10 Home this method will not work. As Group Policy feature is only available in Windows 10 Pro or higher. This will only work for Professional Version of Windows 10.

• Search for gpedit.msc or just press Windows Key + R and type gpedit.msc, hit Enter.
• Go to Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Windows Components –> Windows Defender

• Double Click on Turn off Windows Defender and select Enabled and click OK. By doing this step, you are allowing your Windows 10 group policies to disable Windows Defender.
• Restart your PC.

To check whether Windows Defender is completely disabled or not , Just Go to Settings –> Update & Security, and select Windows Defender, now all the options are disabled and grayed out.

Also Read: DPC_Watchdog_Violation Blue Screen Error Fix

Over To You

I hope you are able to Disable Windows Defender In Windows 10 permanently. Just make sure if you are not using Windows Defender Antivirus Security, have a third-party antivirus program installed on your PC. The web is too dangerous if you are not keeping your PC safe.

Comment below on what should I write next? I want to help each and every one of you using my expertise in Windows 10 operating system.

Please like us on Facebook and let us know if you have any questions regarding this guide. Subscribe to get instant notification about the new Windows 10 guides and tutorials.