Specify the day of the week to run a scheduled scan: registry value ScheduleDayComputerHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan
- Policy ID
- Scan_ScheduleDay
- Scope
- Computer Configuration
- Supported on
- At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
- Source
- Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
- Category
- Windows Components › Microsoft Defender Antivirus › Scan
Registry
ScheduleDay
-ComputerScheduleDay
REG_DWORDComputer- Enabled value
- Depends on the option value
- Element
- Specify the day of the week to run a scheduled scan
| Item | Stored value |
|---|---|
| Never | 8 |
| Every Day | 0 |
| Sunday | 1 |
| Monday | 2 |
| Tuesday | 3 |
| Wednesday | 4 |
| Thursday | 5 |
| Friday | 6 |
| Saturday | 7 |
Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell
.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan] ; Options (use only one) ; Never "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000008 ; Every Day "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000000 ; Sunday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000001 ; Monday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000002 ; Tuesday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000003 ; Wednesday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000004 ; Thursday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000005 ; Friday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000006 ; Saturday "ScheduleDay"=dword:00000007
CMD
:: Options (use only one) :: Never reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 8 /f :: Every Day reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f :: Sunday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f :: Monday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f :: Tuesday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f :: Wednesday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 4 /f :: Thursday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 5 /f :: Friday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 6 /f :: Saturday reg add "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan" /v "ScheduleDay" /t REG_DWORD /d 7 /f
PowerShell
# Common: create the key New-Item -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Force | Out-Null # Options (use only one) # Never New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 8 -Force | Out-Null # Every Day New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null # Sunday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null # Monday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 2 -Force | Out-Null # Tuesday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 3 -Force | Out-Null # Wednesday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 4 -Force | Out-Null # Thursday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 5 -Force | Out-Null # Friday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 6 -Force | Out-Null # Saturday New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Scan' -Name 'ScheduleDay' -PropertyType DWord -Value 7 -Force | Out-Null