Work or school account disables Defender

Question

When I add a work or school account to Windows, I lose access to microsoft defender antivirus. Virus and Threat protection is not accessible any more.

When I try to access Virus & threat protection in Windows Security (by entering virus & Threat in Settings Search box) i get:

[

If i open Windows Security window Virus & Threat is missing there.

If I disconnect my school account from work & school accounts in windows settings, i get V & T protection back.

It happens on private freshly installed and all other computers same. It happens whether the user is an administrator or an ordinary user. It seems that there is some kind of policy in our tenant that commands hiding V&T (Defender) from Windows Security.

I am tenant administrator and I never created such policy.

We have A1, A1 + or A3 licenses but it also doesn't matter which is applied to user.

Answer 1

Hello,

based upon the information provided.

It seems that the windows defender is fully managed by your IT admin

Please check if Connected to Domain/Azure AD?

If you’ve connected your computer to a domain or work/school account, please contact your IT administrator or disconnect the system from the work/school account.

You can try to open Group Policy Editor -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Defender Security Center -> Virus and threat protection -> Set “Hide the Virus and threat protection area” setting to Not Configured, and check if this way works for you.

or

To manually remove Microsoft Defender Antivirus policies using Regedit:

Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and go to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

Export the branch to a .reg file.

Right-click “Windows Defender” and choose Delete

imilarly, backup the following branch (if exists) to a .reg file:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Advanced Threat Protection

Delete the “Windows Advanced Threat Protection” key.

Next, backup the following branch (if exists) to a .reg file:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center

Delete the “Windows Defender Security Center” key.

Exit the Registry Editor.

Restart Windows.

And see if it helps,

Thank you

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