IT administrator feedback: Microsoft Defender cannot be disabled through policy or registry on Win11

CTOnews.com, Oct. 17, according to borncity, corporate IT administrators reported that since August of this year, Microsoft Defender cannot be disabled on Win11 systems through group policy or registry.

Defender currently deactivates and enters a passive state only after the device has installed a third-party antivirus product.

Administrator Alexander Fuchs reported this problem in August this year when he upgraded some Dell computers from Win10 to Win11 21H2/22H2 and found that the system often encountered stutter problems after the upgrade.

After an in-depth investigation, Fuchs locked the problem on the antivirus solution, but later found that Defender could no longer be disabled through Group Policy (GPO).

CTOnews.com Note: Microsoft described the adjustments in its support post "DisableAntiSpyware" on September 7, 2023:

Microsoft said the DisableAntiSpyware registry key specifies whether to disable Microsoft Defender antivirus software for use only by OEM and IT professionals.

Microsoft has adjusted the registry key to "Old Settings" and Microsoft Defender antivirus software automatically shuts down when another antivirus program is detected on the device.