Also when you reboot your computer the process is automatically started again. If you open the task manager you will see that the Microsoft Defender Antivirus service is still running. The Real-time protection will automatically turn back on after a short time. When you turn it off you will get a warning, just click yes to disable the Windows Defender. We can now disable the Real-time protection which should be enough for most testing purposes.

Click on Manage Settings under Virus & Threat protection settings.

In the Windows Security screen open the Virus & Threat protection.

In Windows 11 we will need to open the Windows Security app for this. We are first going to take a look at how to stop Windows Defender temporarily. In this article, I will explain how you can fully turn off Windows Defender in Windows 11 and how to stop it temporarily. Keep in mind that Windows Defender is turned off automatically when you install another antivirus a pplication. Even though it’s one of the best antivirus solutions on the market today, you still might want to turn off Windows Defender for testing purposes or on devices that are not connected to the internet. It protects your computer against malware and virus threats.

Microsoft Defender is in Windows 11 the default anti-virus/malware solution just like it was in Windows 10.

Windows defender not turning on