Guide: How to Run an Offline Scan in Windows Defender
Windows Defender is Microsoft’s free, built-in antivirus and anti-malware program in Windows. It collaborates with the other security features of the operating system, such as Windows 10’s built-in antivirus and anti-malware program, but no antivirus program is perfect. In such a situation, an antivirus program such as Windows Defender may not be reliable or it may not work at all. For example, if you are infected with a virus or malware that has broken or limited its capabilities, you may have to turn to an offline utility to run an effective scan.
Offline scan of Windows Defender
To get started, log into your Windows 10 PC and launch it Windows Defender Security Center. You can do this by searching for it from the Start menu or by selecting it from the All apps list. Once the Security Center window appears, select Virus and threat protection (the Shield icon below). Home in the list on the left side of the window). Here you can run a quick scan and configure your scan settings and definition update preferences. We need one more step though, so click Run a new advanced scan, is located under the Quick Scan button.The Advanced Scans window allows you to run a full scan of everything on your PC, a custom scan of only certain locations or the Offline scan of Windows Defender, that’s what we’re looking for.Click on the radio button to select the offline scan option, then click Scan now. Windows will warn you that the offline scan requires the user to restart their PC. Make sure all your work and open applications are saved and then proceed, accepting all user access control prompts.After a few moments, your PC will restart. Rather than booting to Windows, a similar boot screen will instead take you to a dedicated copy of the Windows Defender interface.At this point, Defender operates completely independently of your operating system, giving it full access to potentially infected files while minimizing the risk of getting itself compromised. The time it takes for the scan to complete depends on the size of your drive and the speed of your hardware. Just make sure it ends.When it is done, Defender will attempt to remove any infections it finds. If successful, your PC will reboot to Windows where you can check if there is indeed an issue with resolution; if not however you may need to consider using offline versions of other tools or taking more drastic measures such as reformattingthe hard drive
How to Run an Offline Scan in Windows Defender: benefits
Faq
Final note
This guide will show you how to run an offline scan in Windows Defender. If you have any questions about this article, feel free to ask us in the comments. You can also share this article with your friends to help them stay safe online. ..
If you have any queries about how to run an offline scan in Windows Defender, then please ask us through the comment section below or directly contact us. Our team is always happy to help you.
