Q&A for How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 10

Microsoft Defender comes with Windows 10, and, unfortunately, it cannot be deleted.

No, you need to be an administrator to disable Windows Defender. This is a security measure to prevent viruses from turning Windows Defender off. However, if you know what you are doing and are certain of the safety of a third party app, it is possible to turn it off by using third party operating systems or startup disks which can access system settings of this system or user account, and disabling services with help of third party apps.

This is because Microsoft Defender automatically turns itself back on whenever Windows restarts.

It's possible that your anti-virus program is not registering itself in the Windows Security Center. Try to contact the anti-virus company for support.

Go to the Windows button at the bottom left corner of the screen, search windows defender, click open. If that does not work, then try the following: Click the Windows button at the bottom left corner of the screen, search task manager, open task manager, click on the details tab, search for a process labeled "Windows defender" click on it, then click end task. if there are multiple then end all of them. After that, try restarting your computer and re opening Windows defender.

Most likely, you have a third party antivirus on your computer, which in most cases disables Windows Defender.

You most likely have another antivirus software installed that disables or restricts Windows Defender, in which case, you will have to go through that anti-virus which is installed. Without knowing the anti-virus though, I cannot help you.

Many of us have suffered the same problem. Don't overcharge, or do not charge the computer for a long time.

Did you set a second or third keyboard layout? If so, you should switch the keyboard layout back to the manufacturer default by pressing Windows key and space until you see the desired layout.

More than likely, your organization has set a policy that prevents disabling of Windows Defender. If not, you may be able to turn off Windows Defender through the registry. Installing any antivirus program also turns off Microsoft Defender.