Windows Defender, which comes with Windows 11, can be turned off or enabled in a variety of ways. Use the Settings app to temporarily turn off real-time protection; professional users can permanently disable Defender through the Group Policy Editor (Pro, Enterprise, or Education version only); home users can turn it off through registry modification; Defender is usually automatically disabled when installing third-party antivirus software, and the service needs to be manually restored or reset after uninstallation. The system settings should be backed up before operation to avoid security risks.

Windows Defender, which comes with Windows 11, is an integrated security protection system, including antivirus, firewall, network protection and other functions. Sometimes you may want to temporarily shut it down (such as installing other antivirus software), or re-enable it to get system native protection. Here are several commonly used methods.

Use the Settings app to turn off or enable Windows Defender

This is one of the easiest ways to do it, and it is suitable for situations where you just want to temporarily turn off real-time protection:

• Open the Start Menu and click Settings (Gear Icon).
• Go to "Privacy and Security" → "Windows Security Center" .
• Click "Virus Protection" or "Virus and Threat Protection".
• In the "Real-Time Protection" column, switch the switch to Off means turn off; if it is already gray, it means it has been disabled.
• If you want to fully restore all functions, remember to check whether the options "Cloud-provided Protection" and "Automatic Submit Samples" are enabled.

This method can only control some functions, such as real-time monitoring, and cannot completely close the entire Defender component.

Permanently disable Windows Defender via Group Policy Editor

If you are a professional user or the enterprise environment needs unified management, you can configure it through Group Policy:

Note: This method is only available for Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education versions.

• Press Win R to open the run window, enter gpedit.msc and press Enter.
• Navigate to Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Microsoft Defender Antivirus .
• Find "Close Microsoft Defender Antivirus" on the right and double-click to open it.
• Select Enabled and click OK.
• Finally restart the computer to make the changes take effect.

If you want to restore Defender, just change this option back to "not enabled".

Use registry modification to turn off Defender (for home version)

If you are using Windows 11 Home Edition and do not have a local Group Policy Editor, you can try to use the registry:

Warning: There are certain risks in modifying the registry. Please back up the registry in advance or create a system restore point.

• Press Win R , enter regedit , and enter.
• Positioning path:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender
• If there is no DisableAntiSpyware key value, right-click the blank space → New → DWORD (32-bit) value, and name it DisableAntiSpyware .
• Double-click it and set the value data to 1 to disable Defender, and enable it to 0 .
• Restart the computer after the modification is completed.

Third-party antivirus software will automatically disable Defender

When you install some mainstream antivirus software (such as Kaspersky, Bitdefender, Norton, etc.), the system will usually automatically detect and prompt whether to turn off Windows Defender. Once confirmed, Defender will be disabled and the interface will also display "Protected by other antivirus software".

If you uninstall third-party security software but find that Defender does not recover automatically, you can manually go to the "Windows Security Center" to see if each module is enabled, or use a command prompt to reset the relevant services.

Basically these methods. Choose the appropriate method according to your system version and needs, pay attention to backup important settings before operation to avoid security vulnerabilities caused by incorrect operations.

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