Privacy and Security Enable or Disable Windows Security Virus and Threat Protection Notifications


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Virus_and_threat_protection_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable non-critical virus & threat protection notifications from Windows Security for all users in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The Notifications page of Windows Security settings lets you configure what kind of notifications you want to receive.

The Virus & threat protection notifications below are purely informational and none of them require immediate action from you. You'll always receive notifications when there's a problem that requires immediate action. The settings on this page simply let you specify whether you want to know things such as that a threat was successfully blocked, or that a malware scan completed uneventfully.
  • Recent activity and scan results
  • Threats found, but no immediate action is needed
  • Files or activities are blocked
In some cases, it may not be appropriate to show these non-critical notifications, for example, if you want to hide regular status updates. You can hide notifications that describe regular events related to the health and security of the device. These notifications are the ones that don't require any action.

References:


You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable Windows Security virus & threat protection notifications.



Contents

  • Option One: Turn On or Off Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications in Windows Security
  • Option Two: Turn On or Off Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications using REG file
  • Option Three: Enable or Disable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications in Local Group Policy Editor
  • Option Four: Enable or Disable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications using REG file


EXAMPLE: "Recent activity and scan results" notification from Windows Security

Recent_activity_and_scan_results_notification.png





Option One

Turn On or Off Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications in Windows Security


1 Open Windows Security.

2 Click/tap on Settings. (see screenshot below)

Windows_Security_notifications-1.png

3 Click/tap on the Manage notifications link under Notifications. (see screenshot below)

Windows_Security_notifications-2.png

4 Perform one of the following actions you want: (see screenshots below)
  • Turn off Get informational notifications.
  • Turn on (default) Get informational notifications, and check (on - default) or uncheck (off) Recent activity and scan results, Threats found, but no immediate action is needed, and/or Files or activities are blocked.
Windows_Security_notifications-4.png
Windows_Security_notifications-3.png

5 If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes to approve.

6 You can now close Windows Security if you like.




Option Two

Turn On or Off Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications using REG file


1 Do step 2 (on - all), step 3 (off - all), or step 4 (on/off specific) below for what you would like to do.

2 Enable All Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

This is the default setting


A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.​

Enable_All_Virus_and_threat_protection_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"SummaryNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000000
"NoActionNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000000
"FilesBlockedNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000000

3 Disable All Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.​

Disable_All_Virus_and_threat_protection_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"SummaryNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000001
"NoActionNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000001
"FilesBlockedNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000001

4 Turn On or Off Specific Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

A) Click/tap on the Download button below you want to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.​

 Turn On or Off "Recent activity and scan results" Notifications

Turn_ON_Recent_activity_and_scan_results_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"SummaryNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000000

OR​

Turn_OFF_Recent_activity_and_scan_results_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"SummaryNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000001


 Turn On or Off "Threats found, but no immediate action is needed" Notifications

Turn_ON_Threats_found_but_no_immediate_action_is_needed_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"NoActionNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000000

OR​

Turn_OFF_Threats_found_but_no_immediate_action_is_needed_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"NoActionNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000001


 Turn On or Off "Files or activities are blocked" Notifications

Turn_ON_Files_or_activities_are_blocked_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"FilesBlockedNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000000

OR​

Turn_OFF_Files_or_activities_are_blocked_notifications.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Virus and threat protection]
"FilesBlockedNotificationDisabled"=dword:00000001

5 Save the REG file to your desktop.

6 Double click/tap on the downloaded REG file to merge it.

7 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

8 You can now delete the downloaded REG file if you like.




Option Three

Enable or Disable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications in Local Group Policy Editor


The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Four for the same policy.


1 Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).

2 Navigate to the policy location below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below)

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Security > Notifications

Windows_Security_notifications_gpedit-1.png

3 In the right pane of Notifications in the Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Hide non-critical notifications policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4 Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.

5 Enable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

This is the default setting to allow using Option One and Option Two.


A) Select (dot) Not Configured. (see screenshot below)​

B) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below.​

Windows_Security_notifications_gpedit-2.png

6 Disable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

This will override and prevent using Option One and Option Two.


A) Select (dot) Enabled. (see screenshot below)​

B) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below.​

Windows_Security_notifications_gpedit-3.png

7 You can now close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.




Option Four

Enable or Disable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications using REG file


1 Do step 2 (always enable), step 3 (always disable), or step 4 (default) below for what you would like to do.


 2. Enable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

This is the default setting to allow using Option One and Option Two.


A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

Enable_non-critical_notifications_from_Windows_Security.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=-


 3. Disable Non-critical Virus and Threat Protection Notifications

This will override and prevent using Option One and Option Two.


A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.​

Disable_non-critical_notifications_from_Windows_Security.reg


(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Notifications]
"DisableEnhancedNotifications"=dword:00000001

4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7 Restart the computer to apply.

8 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink


 

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