Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Microsoft Defender Antivirus\Real-time Protection Description
This policy setting allows you to configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing files, without having to turn off monitoring entirely. It is recommended for use on servers where there is a lot of incoming and outgoing file activity but for performance reasons need to have scanning disabled for a particular scan direction. The appropriate configuration should be evaluated based on the server role. Note that this configuration is only honored for NTFS volumes. For any other file system type, full monitoring of file and program activity will be present on those volumes. The options for this setting are mutually exclusive: 0 = Scan incoming and outgoing files (default) 1 = Scan incoming files only 2 = Scan outgoing files only Any other value, or if the value does not exist, resolves to the default (0). If you enable this setting, the specified type of monitoring will be enabled. If you disable or do not configure this setting, monitoring for incoming and outgoing files will be enabled.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection Value name: RealtimeScanDirection
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Defender/RealTimeScanDirection Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
CSP values
-
0 (Default)- Monitor all files (bi-directional). -
1- Monitor incoming files. -
2- Monitor outgoing files.
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: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection]
"RealtimeScanDirection"=dword:00000001
"RealtimeScanDirection"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Defender/RealTimeScanDirection
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="RealtimeProtection_RealtimeScanDirection" value="0"/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
# 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: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection' -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Configure monitoring for incoming and outgoing file and program activity
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Value 1 -Type DWord
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'RealtimeScanDirection' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.