[Fix] Disable “Turn On Windows Security Center Service” Notification in Windows 10

Security Center” is a built-in and one of the most essential parts of Windows operating system which regularly checks for issues and notifies users about them such as no antivirus installed, Windows updates pending, etc. But many advanced and expert users disable Security Center using Services Manager (Services.msc) as they don’t need those notifications.

In Windows 10, Microsoft introduced new Action Center aka Notification Center which shows various notifications related to system events and if you disable Security Center, it regularly shows following notification:

Turn on Windows Security Center service
The Windows Security Center service is turned off. Tap or click to turn it on.

Advertisement

Turn_On_Security_Center_Service_Windows_10.png

Since the user has intentionally disabled Security Center service, this regular notification annoys the user. This message is shown at each startup. As soon as the user logs into Desktop, this notification prompt is shown after a few seconds/minutes.

Today in this tutorial, we are going to tell you how to disable this “Turn on Windows Security Center service” notification in Windows 10. With the help of this guide, you’ll be able to permanently get rid of this irritating prompt at each startup.

METHOD 1: Disable Security and Maintenance Notifications

A big thanks goes to Microsoft as they finally added an option to disable this notification related to Security Center in the recently released Windows 10 feature update. Now you can easily turn off all notifications related to Security Center using following steps:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together.

2. Now go to System -> Notifications & actions section and under “Get notifications from these senders” section, set “Security and Maintenance” to Off.

Disable_Security_Maintenance_Notifications_Windows_10_Settings.png

Advertisement

PS: Alternatively, You can directly launch this page using “ms-settings:notifications” command in RUN dialog box as mentioned here.

That’s it. Now Windows 10 Action Center will no longer notify you about turned off Security Center service.

METHOD 2: Disable All Notifications from Apps and Senders

If you are not using the latest Windows 10 version and using an older version, you’ll not find the option to turn off “Security and Maintenance” notifications in Settings app. But you can turn off all notifications to overcome this issue. Follow these steps:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together.

2. Now go to System -> Notifications & actions section and set “Show app notifications” to Off.

Disable_App_Notifications_Windows_10.png

Now you’ll not receive any notification from Action Center.

METHOD 3: Disable Action Center and Notifications

If you don’t like Action Center and its notifications, you can disable it with the help of following article:

[Tip] Disable Notifications and Action Center in Windows 10

Also check BONUS TIP 2 in following tutorial:

[Windows 10 Tip] Remove Cortana, Microsoft Edge, Contact Support and Feedback Apps

Now you’ll not see Action Center and any notification in your Windows OS.

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Hi Master VG:)
    So there is a question here about method one. Sorry it is not relevant to this topic but I want to “clear/reset” the list of applications there.
    Any way?
    I’ll try to take a look in the registry myself, though. Thanks for all your valuable articles!:)

  2. Found! One needs to remove the %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Notifications folder. (well, kill explorer.exe first, advanced users.)

  3. How does Security Center differ from Windows Defender? I got the “Turn on” notification today and tapped on it, but then, since I had never seen it before, I immediately turned off the computer because I was afraid I might have activated a virus. I never intentionally turned this off. I also immediately ran brief Windows Defender scan when I turned the computer back on. Thanks.

  4. 8/11/2017 – Method #1 works like a charm… just need to search in Windows settings for: Notifications & actions

  5. If it turned off by itself it might be malware.. that’s right… a virus. It is the most common hacker approach. They do this to make it easier to hack you and so windows doesn’t detect any suspicious activity. Don’t panic or get scared yet 😉 If your data is still available you need to be brave and approach your computer and turn it on because you cant lose hope just yet. Ever heard of Google Drive? or Dropbox? just back up the important files on there because if you lose them you wont even be able to remember what was in there.. Just to be safe, next time you get a computer, back every important file after you make it or do frequent backups so you don’t go into a “tensiony” state when the time comes and your computer is acting.. sick. 😉 Amy P.S: try to delete the files your computer after backing up if they are personal. If (I hope there isn’t) there is a malware or your computer is hacked, it might be a spyware kind of virus so just delete any personal data. Your data can be taken and in worse cases your identity could be stolen 😉 stay away from suspicious websites <3

  6. Method 2 works but only if you disable all individial notifications then the big one at the top
    (disabling the first one, you would think would disable all, but it doesnt, need to disable all by hand, then the first one)

  7. My turn on Windows Security message doesn’t look like you showed. It is black with the big X in red. Like someone else above, I’m afraid to click on it.
    1. Is it legitimate?
    2. Do I need it if I have webroot?
    Thanks!

  8. ^^ The look of the message might differ in different Windows 10 versions as the UI of Action Center has been changed during version updates.

  9. Found! One needs to remove the %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Notifications folder. (well, kill explorer.exe first, advanced users.)

    1. Services -> Stop Service: Windows Push Notifications User Service_*****
    2. Delete all files in folder: %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Notifications
    3. %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Notifications –> Right Click –> Properties –> Sercurity tab –> Advanced –> Disable inheritance –> Remove all inherited permissions from this object –> Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object –> Ok –> Ok

  10. This notification is–10 years later–still blocking wanted features and offering zero protection against real threats. Like the devs snooping around in the user’s system where they don’t belong.
    Stop trying to dominate the market. You’re clearly bad at it.

  11. You say that “”Security Center” is a built-in and one of the most essential parts of Windows operating system…” That premise being true, why would you want to disable it???

  12. On the other hand, how do I turn it on when it gives me an “Error 2: Windows cannot find the file specified”? The only changes to my computer that have been made were made by a Windows 10 v1803 update that took place in the past couple of days, but they had not been done since the beginning of Feb.
    March 3, 2019

  13. ^^ It seems some system files are missing in your computer. I’ll advise to run sfc /scannow command to repair and restore missing files.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NOTE: Your comment may not appear immediately. It'll become visible once we approve it.