Turn off Windows Defender: Windows Defender is the default antivirus available on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. The existence of Windows Defender or Windows Security is of course to protect your computer from viruses or malware.
With Windows Defender, you actually don’t need to install another antivirus application. This is because Windows Defender is one of the best antivirus for Windows that can protect your computer or laptop.
To protect your computer or laptop from virus or malware attacks, Windows Defender will provide protection at any time. This is because the built-in antivirus has real-time protection capabilities that will check and take action against threats at any time.
However, there are times when you need to turn off or disable Windows Defender. For example, when you want to install an application or run a program that Windows Defender considers a virus.
There are several applications or programs that Windows Defender will consider a virus or threat. This application or software usually has a function to crack other applications. For example, KMS Auto products are often used to activate Windows or Office activation.
Therefore, before running the program on Windows 10 / 8.1, you need to temporarily turn off or disable Windows Defender.
How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 10 and 8.1
Like the previous explanation that Windows Defender will consider certain programs or software as threats that you shouldn’t run on Windows. For example, when you run an application or program that is cracked, Windows Defender will usually consider it a virus or threat.
Every time you run the software or program, a warning will appear on Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Often the program or application files will be deleted automatically. This means that you will not be able to run or install the program or software on Windows.
If you still want to run or install the software, then please disable Windows Defender in Windows 10 or Windows 8 for a while.
Actually, you only need to disable the real time protection feature in Windows Defender so that it stops scanning for a while. If Windows Defender doesn’t scan anymore, then the program or software you want to use can be run.
To turn off Windows Defender or Windows Security you can do it very easily. If you don’t know how to disable Windows Defender in Windows 10 or Windows 8.1, then in this article, there are several ways you can do it.
1. How to Disable Windows Defender in Windows 8.1
You can use this first method if you want to disable Windows Defender in Windows 8.1. To temporarily turn off the scan function in Windows 8.1, you have to disable the real-time protection feature found in Windows Defender.
By turning off the protection feature at any time, your computer or laptop will not scan threats continuously every time. How do I turn off Windows Defender in Windows 8.1? please follow the steps below.
- The first step you have to do is, please open or run Windows Defender on Windows 8.1.
- The trick is that click Start then do a search with the keyword “windows defender”.
- After the search results appear from the Windows 8.1 application, please click Windows Defender to open it.
- Next, in the main Windows Defender window that opens, please click the Settings tab.
- Then, to turn off the function scans the Windows Defender temporarily, simply deselect ( uncheck ) the checkbox Turn on real-time protection (recommended).
- After that, click Save changes to store the changes.
After performing the steps above, you have successfully disabled the real-time protection feature or turned off Windows Defender in Windows 8.1. Now you can run the program or application that you want to use. To activate it again, please check back on the checkbox Turn on real-time protection.
2. How to Disable Windows Defender in Windows 10
You can use this second method to turn off Windows Defender on Windows 10 version 1803 and below. If you are using the latest Windows 10 (Windows 10 version 1809 and above), then please use the third method below.
If you don’t know what version of Windows 10 is using, then please check the version of Windows 10 installed on your Laptop or Desktop PC.
In Windows 10, you can also stop Windows Defender by disabling the real-time protection feature. How do I disable Windows Defender in Windows 10 version 1803 and below? please follow the steps below.
- The first step is to open or run the Windows Defender Security Center application.
- The trick is to click Start then do a search by entering the keyword “windows defender”.
- Then in the search results that appear, please click Windows Defender Security Center to open it
- Next, in the Windows Defender Security Center window, please click Virus & threat protection or the shield image on the left panel.
- After that, please click Virus & threat protection settings on the right side panel.
- To temporarily turn off Windows Defender on Windows 10, please change the Real-time protection toggle from On to Off.
After performing the steps above, Windows Defender in Windows 10 will become disabled. To turn it back on, you only need to change the Real-time protection from Off to On.
3. How to Disable Windows Security in the Latest Windows 10
You can use this third method if you want to turn off Windows Defender on Windows 10 version 1809 or later. With the release of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, there are many new features available.
One of the new features of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update is the change from Windows Defender to Windows Security.
How to turn off Windows Security on Windows 10 version 1809 or later is different from the previous version. If you are confused about which version you are using, then please check the version of Windows 10 installed on your Laptop or Desktop PC.
How do I turn off Windows Security in the latest Windows 10 (version 1809 and above)? please follow the steps below.
- The first step is to open Windows 10 Settings on the laptop or computer you are using. Next, on the Windows Settings window, please click Update & Security to open Windows 10 security settings.
- After the next window opens, please click Windows Security on the left-hand panel. Then on the right panel, please click Virus & threat protection to open Windows Security.
- In the Windows Security window, please click Manage Settings in the Virus & threat protection settings section.
- The last step to turn off Windows Security is please change the Real-time protection toggle from On to Off.
After performing the steps above, you have successfully turned off Windows Defender Security Center on the latest Windows 10.
Now you can run any program or application on Windows 10 that previously Windows Defender considered a threat. If you want to re-enable Windows Security, then simply change the Real-time protection back from Off to On.
Reactivate Windows Defender!
After you turn off Windows Defender or Windows Security using one of the methods above, now Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 can run software or programs that were previously blocked.
But, make sure to always re-enable Windows Defender or Windows Security when you have finished running the program you want to use.
It is very important to re-enable Windows Defender or Windows Security so that your computer or laptop has protection from viruses or malware.
If you do not reactivate it, then the possibility that the Windows computer or laptop you are using is infected with a virus or malware will be very large. How to reactivate Windows Defender / Windows Security is provided at the end of each of the methods above.
That’s an easy way to temporarily turn off or disable Windows Defender / Windows Security on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.
Please do this method if you can’t run a program or application because Windows Defender considers it a threat. After you turn it off, please run the program or application that you want to use.