How do I turn off Windows Defender from the command line?

I am searching for a command to temporarily turn off Windows Defender.

Any suggestions?

4 Answers

Using PowerShell (as an administrator) in Windows 10, use the following command:

Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $true 

To re-enable it:

Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $false 

Source

I am searching for a command to turn off Windows Defender

You can use sc (Service Control) to stop and start Windows Defender:

sc stop WinDefend 

And:

sc start WinDefend 

Example output:

F:\test>sc stop WinDefend SERVICE_NAME: WinDefend TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS STATE : 4 RUNNING (STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, ACCEPTS_SHUTDOWN) WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) CHECKPOINT : 0x0 WAIT_HINT : 0x0 F:\test>sc query WinDefend SERVICE_NAME: WinDefend TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS STATE : 1 STOPPED WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) CHECKPOINT : 0x0 WAIT_HINT : 0x0 F:\test>sc start WinDefend SERVICE_NAME: WinDefend TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS STATE : 2 START_PENDING (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN) WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) CHECKPOINT : 0x0 WAIT_HINT : 0x7d0 PID : 6304 FLAGS : F:\test>sc query WinDefend SERVICE_NAME: WinDefend TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS STATE : 4 RUNNING (STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, ACCEPTS_SHUTDOWN) WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0) CHECKPOINT : 0x0 WAIT_HINT : 0x0 

Further Reading

• An A-Z Index of the Windows CMD command line - An excellent reference for all things Windows cmd line related.
• sc - Service Control - Create, Start, Stop, Query or Delete any Windows SERVICE.

To disable:

sc config WinDefend start= disabled sc stop WinDefend 

To re-enable:

sc config WinDefend start= auto sc start WinDefend 

Don't forget about the space after "start=" or the command will not work.

PS. You can get further description of these commands by typing:

sc /? sc config /? 

Run cmd as administrator for elevated privileges,

type the command to turn off windows defender firewall

netsh advfirewall set all state off

type the command to turn on windows defender firewall

netsh advfirewall set all state on