Microsoft has confirmed that misleading Windows Security pop-ups claiming “Microsoft Defender Antivirus is being turned off” are incorrect and said a fix is in the works.
The company says the notifications can appear when Windows starts and intermittently afterward, and that they can persist even if notification settings are turned off. A recent statement said Microsoft is working toward the release of a resolution.
Microsoft attributes the alerts to the latest Windows Antivirus updates but stressed that “the antivirus is functioning correctly and all settings show it as active.” The problem is widespread: Microsoft says it “can be observed in any version of Windows or Windows Server with Microsoft Defender Antivirus running with the latest Defender updates.”
“In our tests, we found that the Windows Security app, which manages Microsoft Defender Antivirus, randomly throws up ‘Turn on virus protection’ pop-ups when you boot Windows and even when casually using it. The alert says that virus protection is turned off, and you need to tap it to turn on Microsoft Defender Antivirus,” the company added.
The false alerts have caused concern among users, particularly given recent AI-led attacks on Windows and zero-day threats. If you see the pop-ups, Microsoft suggests opening Windows Security to confirm there are no real alerts; if none appear, the pop-ups can be ignored while a fix is prepared.
