Turn off Auto Exclusions
- Policy ID
- DisableAutoExclusions
- Scope
- Computer Configuration
- Supported on
- At least Windows Server 2016
- Source
- Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
- Category
- Windows Components › Microsoft Defender Antivirus › Exclusions
Description
Allows an administrator to specify if Automatic Exclusions feature for Server SKUs should be turned off.
Disabled (Default):
Microsoft Defender will exclude pre-defined list of paths from the scan to improve performance.
Enabled:
Microsoft Defender will not exclude pre-defined list of paths from scans. This can impact machine performance in some scenarios.
Not configured:
Same as Disabled.
Registry
ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- DisableAutoExclusionsREG_DWORD