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To turn on Microsoft Defender Antivirus real-time protection on a personally managed Windows device, open Windows Security and go to Virus & threat protection > Manage settings. Switch Real-time protection on. If the control is unavailable or your change does not stick, a management policy or tamper protection may be controlling it.
Turn on real-time protection in Windows Security
- Open the Windows Security app.
- Select Virus & threat protection.
- Under Virus & threat protection settings, select Manage settings.
- Switch Real-time protection on.
Microsoft notes that the setting may be unavailable when an organization manages it. If you switch real-time protection off, Windows turns it back on automatically after a short delay. See Microsoft’s always-on protection guidance.
Check whether real-time protection is enabled
From an elevated PowerShell session, run:
Get-MpComputerStatus | Select-Object IsTamperProtected, RealTimeProtectionEnabledThe output reports whether tamper protection and real-time protection are enabled. This is useful when the Windows Security switch is unavailable or its displayed state is unclear. Microsoft documents the status check in its tamper protection guidance.
Why the setting is greyed out or changes do not stick
Your organization manages the device
On a work- or school-managed device, an administrator can control Defender settings through Group Policy, Microsoft Intune, the Microsoft Defender portal, or Microsoft Configuration Manager. The local Windows Security control may therefore be unavailable, and a local change may be replaced by the centrally configured policy. Contact the administrator or change the setting in the management system that owns the device’s policy.
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Tamper protection blocks the change
Tamper protection helps prevent changes to protected security settings. A change can appear to succeed but be ignored. For a lasting change, update the policy in the management tool controlling the endpoint rather than repeatedly changing the local setting. Microsoft’s always-on protection guidance explains that temporary diagnostic changes require troubleshooting mode and revert when that mode ends.
Enable monitoring with PowerShell
On a device where you have administrator rights and local settings are not overridden by management policy or tamper protection, run this command in an elevated PowerShell session:
Set-MpPreference -DisableRealtimeMonitoring $false -DisableBehaviorMonitoring $false -RealTimeScanDirection BothThis sets real-time monitoring and behavior monitoring to enabled and configures scanning for incoming and outgoing files. To inspect those configured values, run:
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Get-MpPreference | Select-Object DisableRealtimeMonitoring, DisableBehaviorMonitoring, RealTimeScanDirectionMicrosoft identifies the expected values as False, False, and 0, respectively. This preference query shows configured values; use Get-MpComputerStatus to check whether real-time protection is actually enabled. PowerShell changes local endpoint settings only, and centrally deployed policy can overwrite them. See Microsoft’s PowerShell guidance for Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
Keep real-time protection on with Group Policy
For administrators using Group Policy, Microsoft directs you to the Microsoft Defender Antivirus > Real-time Protection policy area. To leave real-time protection on, set Turn off real-time protection to Disabled. Other policies in that area configure monitoring of incoming and outgoing files and programs, behavior monitoring, and file and program activity. If tamper protection is enabled, Group Policy cannot turn off real-time protection. Consult Microsoft’s policy instructions before changing a managed endpoint.
For supported device-management scenarios, Microsoft’s Defender Policy CSP lists AllowRealtimeMonitoring as enabled by default (1) for device scope on Windows 10 version 1607 and later, and supported Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT editions. The CSP reference says the change does not apply when tamper protection is enabled. This policy reference is not a guarantee that every consumer Windows installation exposes enterprise management interfaces. Details are in Microsoft’s Defender Policy CSP reference.
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Choose the right configuration route
- One personally managed device: use the Windows Security switch; PowerShell is an alternative when you need to configure or inspect local preferences.
- An organization-managed device: use the management system that owns its policy. Local PowerShell changes may be overwritten, and tamper protection may block changes.
- Before troubleshooting: check both
RealTimeProtectionEnabledandIsTamperProtectedwithGet-MpComputerStatusso you can distinguish the protection state from a policy or tamper-protection restriction.
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