Temporary disable/pause defender

Question

Hi,

we have a E5 security license recently bought and are implementing most of the features from that package. Since Microsoft Defender is our main AV I need this like the plants need water - I need sometimes to temporary disable/pause the thing for 10min and there is no easy way to do this. Answers like "you should not do this..." please, there is sometimes the need just to pause it like for example our secretary is trying to print one document and the antimalware service is eating up the CPU up to the point that the Windows 10 become unusable because it slows down so much.

Thank you for answers which would enable me to do what I am asking

Cheers

Answer 1

Hi there,

You can follow the steps in the below article to turn on and off the defender in your environment.

Turn off Defender antivirus protection in Windows Security https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/turn-off-defender-antivirus-protection-in-windows-security-99e6004f-c54c-8509-773c-a4d776b77960

Turn on Microsoft 365 Defender https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender/m365d-enable?view=o365-worldwide

If you are comfortable with Powershell then you can try out the below article for some insights. Use PowerShell cmdlets to configure and manage Microsoft Defender Antivirus https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/use-powershell-cmdlets-microsoft-defender-antivirus?view=o365-worldwide

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Answer 2

If your administrator has configured local overrides (e.g. local endpoint administrator accounts are allowed to configure override settings on the endpoints) you can change your protection settings as per this article:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/configure-local-policy-overrides-microsoft-defender-antivirus?view=o365-worldwide

Otherwise, you cannot really switch it off.

Regards,

Rosen

Answer 3

I am still in awe that Microsoft just decided that the Defender cannot be deactivated. ALL AV can be temporary deactivated, sometimes this is necessary!
Is there a feedback hub for this so I can actually talk to the engineers, at least a forum?

Answer 4

There is a Troubleshooting Mode option from the device page. Is that what you are looking for?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/enable-troubleshooting-mode