Windows 11 Group Policy Defender AntiVirus

Question

WIndows 11 go into local group policy. Go to Microsoft Defender Antivirus and enable 'Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus'. Restart. The policy reverts back to 'not configured'. What are the steps necessary to properly disable Defender on Windows 11?

Answer 1

Hi @Stan Kasper ,

You are no longer able to disable the Microsoft Defender by Group Policy for security reasons.
The only way to disable the Microsoft Defender is to install a third-party antivirus software, as that disables the Microsoft Defender.

Reference:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/customize/desktop/unattend/security-malware-windows-defender-disableantispyware

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Best regards,
Leon

Answer 2

So... I have a 300 to 500M memory program Windows Defender running on a machine that is not connected to the Internet and therefore does not need it. How do I remove it?

Answer 3

Hi @Stan Kasper

Permanently disabling Windows Defender can be challenging. Methods that worked in Windows 10 don’t seem to work in Windows 11 anymore. What seems to work though is taking ownership of the Windows Defender executable and remove all permissions from it. This way the system principal can’t start the Microsoft Defender services. Having a third-party AV software is one method that turns off Microsoft Defender.

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