Windows Defender is your Windows inbuilt defense against malicious threats. It scans your PC for malware, viruses, and other security threats. Despite being a decent antivirus for Windows, users have reported instances where Windows Security kept saying threats were found by popping up notifications stating PUP or other threats were found and quarantined. And it didn’t stop there and kept repeating the same notification every few minutes.
Why Windows Defender Keeps Saying Threats Are Found
In most cases, the identification is genuine if Windows Security identifies a file, process, folder, website, or anything else as a threat. It is best to take action and remove it. However, there are also times when Windows Defender/ Security may detect something malicious that might not be harmful. Such entities are known as false positives, and here are some reasons why such entities may arise –
- The threat was outside the database of threats that Windows Defender has.
- You removed a suspicious browser extension that had malware, but since the settings have not been changed, Windows Security has identified malware.
- A malicious file is already quarantined by another Antivirus software, and Windows Security has flagged off the same malware.
- Windows Defender identified its quarantined items or protection history as malware.
Also Read: How to Fix Windows Defender Won’t Update
Things You Can Do If Windows Defender Keeps Saying Threats Are Found
If you have been at the receiving end of this issue and have been receiving false positives, this post will give you some of the best ways to fix the issue –
1. Use An Alternate Antivirus Tool
While you resolve the issue, you might want to disable Windows Security or disable one of its features. Before you do that, you should consider installing a third-party Antivirus that will defend you against various malicious threats while your Windows native antivirus is inactive. T9 Antivirus, for instance, is one of the best alternatives to Windows Defender.
Here are some features that prove that T9 Antivirus Is A Strong Force Against Malware –
- Multiple scanning modes to search every corner of your PC for malware.
- Real-time and on-demand protection.
- Exploit protection against those threats that exploit zero-day vulnerabilities.
- Web protection prevents you from stumbling upon malicious websites.
- Firewall protection keeps you safe by analyzing incoming traffic, and it checks which all apps have access to the internet.
- An updated database ensures that even the latest virus is not hidden from the eyes of T9 Antivirus.
You can check our in-depth review of T9 Antivirus to learn more about this powerful Antivirus tool.
2. Delete Scan History
Windows Defender or Windows Security scans history or logs to show the various threats identified on your computer. The history is stored in your computer’s C drive. You can delete the scan history from Windows 11/10 to stop receiving threat messages. The steps for the same are mentioned below –
1. Open File Explorer.
2. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scans\History\Service
3. On DetectionHistory right-click
4. Click on Delete
Also Read: Windows Defender Won’t Delete Trojans
3. Exclude A Folder From Being Scanned
Windows Security or Windows Defender allows you to exclude folders from the scan. To do that, you can add a folder to the Exclusions list. You can even add the DetectionHistory that we discussed above in the exclusion list. To add a folder to the exclusion list, follow the steps mentioned below –
1. Open Windows Security.
2. From the left-hand pane, click on Virus & threat protection.
3. Click on Manage Settings under Virus & threat protection.
4. Scroll down and click on Add or remove exclusions under Exclusions.
5. Click on Add an exclusion.
6. Choose File, Folder, File Type, or Process.
After that, the aforementioned file or folder won’t appear in the scan, and you won’t receive the threat found message.
Also Read: Windows Security Says No Security Providers Error
4. Turn Off Real-Time Protection
At the beginning of this post, we stressed having a third-party antivirus tool. This is where a third-party Antivirus tool can safeguard you from malicious threats when disabling Windows Defender’s or Windows Security’s real-time protection. To disable Windows Defender’s real-time protection, here are the steps –
1. In the Windows search bar, type Windows Security and click on Open from the right-hand side.
2. When Windows Security opens, click on Virus & threat protection from the left-hand pane.
3. Scroll down and click on Manage Settings under Virus & threat protection settings.
4. Next, toggle off the Real-time protection switch, as shown in the screenshot below.
Also Read: Is Your Windows Infected with a Virus?
5. Clear Logs
If Windows Defender persistently notifies you that threats are found even when there are no actual threats, you can clear logs with the help of Event Viewer using the steps mentioned below –
1. In the Windows search bar, type Event Viewer and click on Run as administrator from the right-hand side.
2. Click on Applications and Services Log>Microsoft>Windows from the left-hand side.
3. Select Windows Defender and click on Operational.
4. Under operational, click on Clear Log
Also Read: Protect Your PC From Malware And Security Threats
Wrapping Up
We hope that after you have tried out the fixes mentioned above, Windows Defender will stop giving false notifications. We’d again like to reinstate that should the need arise to disable Windows Security, a third-party Antivirus like T9 Antivirus should be brought into action. For more such content, keep reading WeTheGeek.