How do I REMOVE a folder from the list of "Protected folders" (virus&threat protection setting "Protected folders")

Hahaha - that's a good one. What "Remvoe" button? See below. I can click on it, I can right-click on it - there is no such button. There is nothing.

According to: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-defender-exploit-guard/customize-controlled-folders-exploit-guard#protect-additional-folders

"You can add additional folders to be protected, but you cannot remove the default folders in the default list."

Hopefully Microsoft will change this to allow the default folders to be removed.

Thank you to Rob Koch, Aaron Malek, and hector flores for filling this page with things that everone in this discussion already knows and not being helpful whatsoever.

Well said.

Hi Mörre,

You can either add or delete a folder in Windows Defender protected folder. To do that, follow the steps below:

1. Open Windows Defender and go Protected folders option.
2. Click on the listed folder you want to remove, then click the Remove button.
3. Click Yes to continue the deletion**.** Enter UAC permission when prompted.

Get back to us if you need further assistance.

Highly doubtful Aaron, since that would allow the foolish to reduce the base level of protection that the Controlled Folder Access feature provides.

If you don't understand how to use the application exclusion and other features of CFA in order to work around its operational issues with certain older and often badly written applications, then you need to concentrate on learning how to do that.

If the applications you are having problems with are more core to the operation of Windows itself, we've seen a few of those reports, which while mostly unexplained that I've seen, are obviously indicting there are deeper issues with the operation of Windows itself on those machines.

I've personally experienced this type of issue with a seemingly random CFA warning relating to a common Windows dll, which though I could choose to blame this on CFA, was obviously the result of some sort of attack that had occurred during the previous Internet Explorer browsing session I'd just completed.  Since this browsing session had been purposefully dangerous, that wasn't surprising in my case, but I wouldn't have even been fully aware of an attack if I hadn't seen that particular CFA notification.

You need to stop trying to get CFA changed and instead concentrate on the specific problem you believe it is having on your PC, since that's the issue you need to solve. The default folders protected by CFA were chosen for a reason, since these are too easily attacked and abused by ransomware due to legacy issues with the design of Windows security, which is what CFA was designed to improve.

Rob

Controlled Folder Access can be turned off.

If turning it off is effectively the same as turning it on without any protected folders, then it doesn't make sense to limit the program's functionality and the user's control in that way.