Setup guides for Microsoft Defender XDR

Applies to:

  • Microsoft Defender XDR

Setup guides for Microsoft Defender XDR deployment give you tailored guidance and resources for planning and deploying security controls for your tenant, apps, and services.

All setup guides are available in the Microsoft 365 admin center and in the Microsoft 365 Setup portal.

Setup guides

Setup guides in the admin center require authentication to a Microsoft 365 tenant as an administrator or other role with access to the admin center, but guides in the Microsoft 365 Setup portal can be accessed by anyone. The following table provides links to both locations for each guide, where available.

Defender Deployment guide description Link in the Setup Portal Link in the Admin Center
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Provides instructions that will help your enterprise network prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats. Make an informed assessment of your organization's vulnerability and decide which deployment package and configuration methods are best.

Note: A Microsoft Volume License is required for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
Link Link (may require sign-in)
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Provides you with the resources and information to help you prepare and identify the Defender for Office 365 plan to fit your organization's needs. Link Link (may require sign-in)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Provides easy to follow deployment and management guidance to set up your Cloud Discovery solution. With Cloud Discovery, you'll integrate your supported security apps, and then you'll use traffic logs to dynamically discover and analyze the cloud apps that your organization uses. You'll also set up features available through the Defender for Cloud Apps solution, including threat detection policies to identify high-risk use, information protection policies to define access, and real-time session controls to monitor activity. With these features, your environment gets enhanced visibility, control over data movement, and analytics to identify and combat cyberthreats across all your Microsoft and third-party cloud services. Link Link (may require sign-in)
Microsoft Defender for Identity Provides security solution set-up guidance to identify, detect, and investigate advanced threats that might compromise your on-premises user identities. These include detecting suspicious user activities and malicious insider actions directed at your organization. You'll create a Defender for Identity instance, connect to your organization's on-premises Active Directory, and then set up sensors, alerts, notifications, and configure your unique portal preferences. Link Link (may require sign-in)

Tip

Do you want to learn more? Engage with the Microsoft Security community in our Tech Community: Microsoft Defender XDR Tech Community.