[Windows Tip] How to Disable Windows Defender Permanently

Windows Defender is Microsoft’s official antivirus and anti-spyware/malware program for Windows operating system. It comes preinstalled with Windows Vista and all later Windows versions such as Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.

If you don’t like Windows Defender and want to use a 3rd party antivirus or security suite program in Windows, you can disable Windows Defender with the help of this tutorial.

Today in this tutorial, we’ll tell you how to turn off/disable Windows Defender permanently in Windows operating system.

PS: We recommend you to not disable Windows Defender as it provides antivirus and anti-spyware protection. If you really want to disable Windows Defender, make sure to install another antivirus and anti-spyware program in your computer.

If you don’t want to use Windows Defender and want to completely disable Windows Defender, following steps will help you:

METHOD 1: Disable Windows Defender Using Group Policy Editor

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type gpedit.msc in RUN and press Enter. It’ll open Group Policy Editor.

2. Now go to:

3. In right-side pane, double-click on “Turn off Windows Defender” option and set it to Enabled.

It’ll disable Windows Defender program in Windows.

PS: In future, if you want to re-enable Windows Defender, simply set the “Turn off Windows Defender” option to Not Configured again in Group Policy Editor.

METHOD 2: Disable Windows Defender Using Registry Editor

If you are using Home edition of Windows OS, you’ll not be able to run gpedit.msc command because this edition doesn’t come with Group Policy Editor.

If you can’t use or don’t want to use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit in RUN and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

3. In right-side pane, create a new DWORD DisableAntiSpyware and set its value to 1

That’s it. Restart your computer to take effects.

PS: If you want to enable Windows Defender in future, delete the DWORD DisableAntiSpyware created in step 3 using Registry Editor and restart your computer to take effects.

NOTE: If you are not familiar with Registry editing tasks, we are also providing ready-made Registry script to do the task automatically. Download following ZIP file, extract it and run .REG file. It’ll ask for confirmation, accept it:

The ZIP file also contains Registry script to restore default Windows Defender options.

Also Check:

• Windows 10 to Prevent Users from Disabling Windows Defender Antivirus
• [Fix] Security Center doesn’t Register 3rd Party Antivirus in Windows 10, Windows Defender Keeps Running
• [Tip] Disable or Remove “Windows Defender Security Center” App in Windows 10
• [Windows 10 Tip] Remove “Windows Defender Security Center” Icon from Taskbar Notification Area
• [Tip] How to Disable Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter in Windows 10
• [Windows 10 Tip] Disable Data Collection and Telemetry in Windows Defender