Instructions for activating or disabling SmartScreen filter on Windows

Basically, Windows SmartScreen is a tool and feature that checks the safety of a file or application that may be harmful on a Windows system. This feature has been integrated since Windows 8. When you run a file or an application of unknown origin, Windows will block this application and display a screen asking whether or not to run this application.

It can be said that this feature is extremely useful, however, if many of these notifications appear when running the application, it will make many people feel uncomfortable. Therefore, you can proceed to disable Windows SmartScreen on Windows.

What is SmartScreen filter?

SmartScreen acts as an early warning system to let users know if a website or application is suspicious or if the downloaded file is not found in the list of safe software programs. Essentially, SmartScreen uses a large database of whitelisted and blacklisted websites to analyze whether a given thing is safe to open or not.

SmartScreen runs in the background on Windows and will usually display as a large blue box saying 'Windows protected your PC' by blocking a certain program or website. If it's a program, you'll usually have the option to 'Run Anyway'. If SmartScreen appears on a website that you know is safe, you can click 'More Information' and report it as a safe website.

Overall, SmartScreen is a useful layer of security that you should leave behind. However, it sometimes prevents you from visiting websites or downloading things that you know are safe, but have not been verified by SmartScreen. At times like these, you should disable SmartScreen.

How to turn off SmartScreen using Windows security settings

The easiest way to turn off SmartScreen is through Windows Settings. You can configure all aspects of your system's security from Windows Security. Here's how to do it.

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.

2. Open the Privacy and Security tab in the left pane.

3. Click Windows Security .

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4. Next, click Open Windows Security .

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5. Open the App & browser control tab in the left pane.

6. Click Reputation-based protection settings under  Reputation-based protection .

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7. Here you will find 4 different SmartScreen filters that you can enable or disable individually. If you want to disable file and executable file filtering, turn off the Check apps and files and  Potentially unwanted app blocking filters . The remaining two filters are for Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Store apps .

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8. If you want to completely turn off SmartScreen, turn off all 4 filters.

If any SmartScreen filter is grayed out with the message "this setting is managed by your administrator" , you must contact your administrator or try this method. other.

How to turn off SmartScreen for Microsoft Edge

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Microsoft Edge has a built-in option to enable and disable Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. Here's how to access it:

1. Launch Microsoft Edge and click the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
2. Click Settings .
3. Open the Privacy , search, and services tab in the left pane.
4. Scroll down to the Security section .
5. Turn off the Microsoft Defender SmartScreen toggle switch . This will also disable the Block potentially unwanted apps option .
6. If you choose to turn SmartScreen back on, you must manually turn on the Block potentially unwanted apps feature .

Additionally, you can turn off SmartScreen for Microsoft Edge using the Windows Security and Registry Editor apps. Here's how.

Disable Microsoft Edge SmartScreen using Windows Security

Microsoft Edge SmartScreen helps you browse safely from phishing sites and malware you download. Unless it's managed by an administrator, you can turn it off.

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Enter windowsdefender:// and click OK to open the Windows Security application.

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3. Open the App & browser control tab in the left pane.

4. Next, click the Reputation-based protection settings link under Reputation-based protection .

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5. Turn off the SmartScreen for Microsoft Edge toggle switch to disable Microsoft Defender's SmartScreen for Edge browser.

Disable SmartScreen for Microsoft Edge using Registry Editor

Editing the registry is an alternative (but more complicated) method to permanently disable SmartScreen for Edge browser.

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Type regedit and click OK to open Registry Editor.

3. Next, navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftEdgeSmartScreenEnabled

4. In the right pane, right-click on the Default value and select Modify .

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5. Enter 1 in the Value data field and click OK to save the changes.

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6. You may need to restart your computer to see the changes live.

How to turn off Windows Defender SmartScreen using Internet Properties

You can enable or disable Windows Defender SmartScreen using the Internet Properties dialog box in Windows 10. Also known as Internet Options, it allows you to configure security and access settings, add-ons, Active-X controls , etc.

Follow these steps to turn off SmartScreen using Internet Options:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Type control and click OK to open Control Panel.

3. Click Network and Internet .

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4. Next, click Internet Options.

5. In the Internet Properties window , open the Advanced tab .

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6. Scroll down to the Security section .

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7. Uncheck the Enable Windows Defender SmartScreen option .

8. Click Apply >  OK  to save the changes.

On newer versions of Windows, including Windows 111, you may not find any options to enable or disable Windows Defender SmartScreen in Internet Properties.

How to enable or disable SmartScreen using Registry Editor

You can also enable or disable Windows Defender SmartScreen using Registry Editor. This is useful if you can't access it from the Settings app or Internet Properties.

Note that incorrectly modifying the registry can cause system malfunctions. Therefore, create a restore point before proceeding with the steps below.

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Type regedit and click OK to open Registry Editor. Click Yes if prompted by UAC for admin rights.

3. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem

4. In the right pane, locate the EnableSmartScreen filter value. You will need to create a new value if no value is found.

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5. To create a new value, right-click on the System key and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

6. Rename the value to EnableSmartScreen.

7. Next, right-click on the EnableSmartScreen value and select Modify .

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8. Enter 0 in the Value data field and click OK to save the changes.

9. To enable the SmartScreen filter, enter 1 in the Value data field  and click OK .

10. Close Registry Editor and restart your PC to apply the changes.

You can further adjust the registry to create a new String Value to set the blocking level to Warn or  Block . Using Warn will display a SmartScreen warning with the option to continue. On the contrary, the Block option will display a warning and block the application from running on your computer.

To set a new ShellSmartScreenLevel string value in the Registry Editor:

1. Right-click the System subkey and select New > String Value . Rename the value to ShellSmartScreenLevel.

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2. Next, right-click on ShellSmartScreenLevel and select Modify.

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3. Enter Warn or  Block depending on what you want SmartScreen Level to do. Click OK to save the changes and exit Registry Editor.

How to enable or disable SmartScreen filter using Group Policy Editor

If you want to manage SmartScreen filters for multiple computers in your organization, you can use Group Policy Editor to perform this task.

Note that Group Policy Editor is only available on Windows Pro, Edu, and Enterprise versions of the operating system. If you're using Home, explore TipsMake's instructions for enabling Group Policy Editor on Windows Home edition.

To configure the SmartScreen filter using GPEdit:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Enter gpedit.msc and click OK to open Group Policy Editor.

3. Next, navigate to the following location in Group Policy Editor:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer.

4. In the right pane, right-click the Configure Windows Defender SmartScreen policy and select Edit .

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5. To turn off SmartScreen, select Disabled .

6. If you want to enable SmartScreen, select Not Configured or Enabled .

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7. Click Apply > OK to save the changes.

8. Close Group Policy Editor and restart your PC.

Good luck!

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Lesley Montoya

Update 18 November 2023