Windows Defender is a solid first-party antivirus on Windows 10. Finally, I am glad that Microsoft has brought a feature-rich and safe antivirus for Windows 10 that is not a resource hog. It also comes with many features that can be useful for users. One of the best features of Windows Defender (now called Windows Security) is that you can add exceptions for files and folders and the antivirus does not scan for these items. This is great, isn’t it? It will significantly improve your PC performance and free up resources for other tasks. Without further ado, let’s go ahead and learn how to exclude files and folders from Windows Defender.
Extract Files and Folders from Windows Defender
1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard once and press “securityNow open Windows Security from the top result.
2. Here, “Virus and threat protectionGo to the ” tab and click on “Manage Settings”.
3. Now scroll down and you will find a section called “.exceptions“. From here you can add any files or folders and Windows Defender will exclude them from scanning. Click “Add or remove exceptions” to continue.
4. Simply click “Add an exclusion” and select what you want to exclude from Windows Defender.
- File: Lets you exclude a specific file, whether it’s a document file or a development tool.
- File: You can add an entire folder and it will not be scanned.
- File type: Then there is “File Type” where you can mention the file extension like EXE or PDF and these file types will not be scanned.
- Process: Finally, there is the “Process” where you can add background tasks and processes, which will not be scanned.
5. Here, for example, I choosing a folder and will not be scanned from Windows Defender. When you do this, Windows will ask you to confirm your action. Click “Yes”.
6. Now you have successfully removed a folder from Windows Defender. From now on the folder will not be scanned by Windows Defender.
7. If you want to remove the exclusion, click on the entry and “To pick up“. This much.
Speed Up Your PC with Windows Defender Exclusions
So you can add exceptions to Windows Defender and make your PC much faster to use. As we all know, Windows keeps scanning files, folders and various other things in the background, slowing down the computer. If you’re working on a large document or compiling code, Windows Defender can slow performance.
So go ahead and add the exceptions as per your request. If you want to disable Windows Defender permanently, follow our detailed guide. Also, check out our linked guide for more such Windows 10 tips and tricks.
