This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable Periodic Scanning in Microsoft Defender Antivirus when you have a 3rd party antivirus program installed in Windows 11.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus is an antivirus software that is included in Windows 11 and can help protect your device from viruses, malware, and other threats.
Limited periodic scanning is a special type of threat detection and remediation that can be enabled when you have installed another antivirus product on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 device.
This feature only uses a limited subset of the Microsoft Defender Antivirus capabilities to detect malware, and will not be able to detect most malware and potentially unwanted software. Also, management and reporting capabilities will be limited. Microsoft recommends enterprises choose their primary antivirus solution and use it exclusively.
By default, Microsoft Defender Antivirus will enable itself on a Windows 10 or a Windows 11 device if there is no other antivirus product installed, or if the other product is out-of-date, expired, or not working correctly.
If Microsoft Defender Antivirus is enabled, the usual options will appear to configure it on that device.
If another antivirus product is installed, registered, and working correctly, Microsoft Defender Antivirus will disable itself. The Windows Security app will change the Virus & threat protection section to show status about the AV product, and provide a link to the product's configuration options.
Underneath any third party AV products, a new link will appear as Microsoft Defender Antivirus options. Clicking this link will expand to show the toggle that enables limited periodic scanning. Note that the limited periodic option is a toggle to enable or disable periodic scanning.
Sliding the switch to On will show the standard Microsoft Defender AV options underneath the third party AV product. The limited periodic scanning option will appear at the bottom of the page.
You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable Limited Periodic Scanning.
EXAMPLE: Windows Security notification when periodic scanning turned on
Here's How:
1 Open Windows Security.
2 Click/tap on Virus & threat protection. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on Microsoft Defender Antivirus options to expand it open. (see screenshots below step 4)
4 Turn On (default) or Off Periodic scanning for what you want. (see screenshots below)
5 If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes to approve.
7 You can now close Windows Security if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
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