Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Vista
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Microsoft Defender Antivirus Description
This policy setting turns off Microsoft Defender Antivirus. If you enable this policy setting, Microsoft Defender Antivirus does not run, and will not scan computers for malware or other potentially unwanted software. If you disable this policy setting, Microsoft Defender Antivirus will run regardless of any other installed antivirus product. If you do not configure this policy setting, Windows will internally manage Microsoft Defender Antivirus. If you install another antivirus program, Windows automatically disables Microsoft Defender Antivirus. Otherwise, Microsoft Defender Antivirus will scan your computers for malware and other potentially unwanted software. Enabling or disabling this policy may lead to unexpected or unsupported behavior. It is recommended that you leave this policy setting unconfigured.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender Value name: DisableAntiSpyware
Enabled: DisableAntiSpyware = 1
Disabled: DisableAntiSpyware = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_MicrosoftDefenderAntivirus/DisableAntiSpywareDefender Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Vista
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender]
"DisableAntiSpyware"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DisableAntiSpyware' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_MicrosoftDefenderAntivirus/DisableAntiSpywareDefender
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender' -Name 'DisableAntiSpyware' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DisableAntiSpyware' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender' -Name 'DisableAntiSpyware' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off Microsoft Defender Antivirus
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Vista
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DisableAntiSpyware' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.