Windows Pop-up "Turn on virus protection" notification despite Windows Defender being already turned ON.

Julia Cragin 275 Reputation points
2026-08-29T20:44:44.7266667+00:00

This pop-up notification keeps popping up. I already have Windows Defender ON.

I see others saying the error is happening to them as well - but no fix yet?

Windows 11 operating system. Been happening for about a week.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy
Answer accepted by question author

AI answer

2026-08-29T20:44:55.0166667+00:00

This is a confirmed Windows issue affecting Microsoft Defender Antivirus notifications.

After the latest Microsoft Defender Antivirus updates, Windows can incorrectly show "Microsoft Defender Antivirus is turned off" even when Defender is actually active and all settings show it as enabled. Microsoft states that Defender continues functioning correctly, and the notification can appear at startup and intermittently afterward. It can also continue even if notification settings are turned off.

For a Windows 11 system, this matches the currently documented known issue. There is no published fix yet. Microsoft is working on a resolution in a future Microsoft Defender Antivirus update.

If Windows Security shows Defender as on and active, the popup is currently considered a false notification rather than proof that protection is disabled.

If needed, the issue can be reported through the Feedback Hub app.

References:

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Answer accepted by question author
CrazyKats 19,155 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-08-29T21:48:44.5033333+00:00

Hi Julia,

Please file the issue in the Feedback Hub

using WIN+F. This way the Engineers get

the diagnostics to investigate.

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  1. Bence Weiszmann 1,475 Reputation points
    2026-08-29T20:52:09.8233333+00:00

    Dear @Julia Cragin

    A number of users have reported the same issue recently. There is an ongoing discussion in the Microsoft Community Hub describing the “Turn on virus protection” notification appearing even though Microsoft Defender remains enabled and continues to work normally. (techcommunity.microsoft.com)

    There are also similar reports from Windows 11 users on Reddit, including cases where the notification appears repeatedly while Defender itself reports that real-time protection is enabled. (reddit.com)

    Microsoft references:

    Based on these reports, this looks like a Windows Security status/reporting issue rather than Microsoft Defender actually being disabled. However, I would still verify the Defender status before dismissing the notification.

    You can check this directly with PowerShell. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

    Get-MpComputerStatus | Select-Object AMRunningMode, AntivirusEnabled, RealTimeProtectionEnabled

    You would normally expect to see:

    AMRunningMode              : Normal
AntivirusEnabled           : True
RealTimeProtectionEnabled  : True

    If these values are correct and Windows Security > Virus & threat protection also shows that real-time protection is enabled, the notification is likely a reporting issue rather than an actual Defender protection problem.

    I would make sure Windows and Microsoft Defender security intelligence are fully up to date and keep the system updated. Hopefully Microsoft will address the issue in a future update.

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    5 people found this answer helpful.
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