Solved How to exclude Drives in Windows Defender

Tried searching Google for the answer and struck out . . .
Just how can I exclude scanning my backup drive from windows defender in Win-11 Pro 25H2

I logged in to do something and Windows defender just started hammering me with potentially unwanted programs that I knew were not dangerous and it was such a distraction I forgot what I actually wanted to do. I have multiple backups and it wants me to make a decision about every one of them. I dont know why it ran this morning and never scanned that drive before now.

The procedure for excluding folders [you'd specify the root folder of the drive concerned] is explained in the tutorial
Add or Remove Exclusions for Microsoft Defender - ElevenForumTutorials
When I add a folder exclusion, its subfolders are also covered. You might wish to ask Brink's opinion about that by posting in the tutorial thread because I can't find that aspect of its behaviour documented anywhere.


Denis

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Try3 said:

When I add a folder exclusion, its subfolders are also covered

Click to expand...

I've just double-checked that; subfolders are definitely covered.
For example,
- I excluded a folder which has subfolders containing files that WD used to object to [AV test files, dummy malware].
- I have definitely only excluded the parent folder.
- The dummy malware files are definitely in the subfolders not the parent folder.
- WD stopped bothering me about these test files when I excluded the parent folder.

@Brink - Perhaps you could add a statement about subfolders to the TF-EF exclusion tutorials.


Denis

Thanks for the answer. Apparently listing a drive as a folder excludes the entire Drive.
I'll clear the history and run the scan again and report back if needed.

I see you moved this question/post . . . OK but I'm not sure I like that idea because I tend to scroll through the general category when I have time (like on rainy days and Mondays) to find answers to questions I did not know I needed but I'm never going to scroll through every category.

I did browse through the tutorials more than once but it's been over a year and I was just a little frustrated and this was not the time for browsing while Windows 11 was interrupting my workflow as Win Defender was throwing popups at me faster than I could respond too them. There ought to be a pause button.

john1955 said:

I tend to scroll through the general category when I have time

Click to expand...

I browse through
New posts - ElevenForum
New posts - TenForums
which contain all categories.


Denis