Advertisement

Add Scan with Windows Defender to Explorer right click context menu in Windows 10

As you may already know, Microsoft bundled antivirus protection software with Windows 10. It is called Windows Defender and provides basic protection. According to Microsoft, it is good enough for most users. However, by default it does not scan removable drives. When you need to scan a removable drive or a specific file or folder with Defender, it is useful to have a context menu item to do it quickly.

Advertisеment


Usually, you need to launch Windows Defender to scan a removable drive or a folder. However, by adding a context menu item, you can save your time. Let's see how it can be done.
  1. Open Notepad. You can run it by pressing Win + R hotkeys together and typing notepad in the 'Run' box. Tip: See the ultimate list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys.windows 10 run notepad
  2. Copy and paste the following text:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    ; Folder Scan
    
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\WindowsDefender]
    "Icon"="%ProgramFiles%\\\\Windows Defender\\\\EppManifest.dll"
    "MUIVerb"="Scan with Windows Defender"
    
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\WindowsDefender\Command]
    @="cmd.exe /s /c \"\"C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MpCmdRun.exe\" -scan -scantype 3 -SignatureUpdate -file \"%1 \"\" & pause"
    
    ; File Scan
    
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WindowsDefender]
    "Icon"="%ProgramFiles%\\\\Windows Defender\\\\EppManifest.dll"
    "MUIVerb"="Scan with Windows Defender"
    
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\WindowsDefender\Command]
    @="cmd.exe /s /c \"\"C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MpCmdRun.exe\" -scan -scantype 3 -SignatureUpdate -file \"%1 \"\" & pause"

     

  3. Save the text above to the file "Add_Scan_with_Windows_Defender_Context_Menu.reg". Type or copy this file name with quotes as shown below:windows 10 add scan with defenderYou can save it to any location you want, e.g. Desktop.
  4. Double click the .REG file you just created, click Yes to merge the file and you are done!windows 10 scan with defender context menu

As a bonus, I have prepared the two ready-to-use reg files for your convenience. The first is to add the menu item mentioned in this article, and the second one is Remove_Scan_with_Windows_Defender_Context_Menu.reg, which can be used to remove the context menu item and restore the defaults.

Download ready-to-use Registry files to add Windows Defender to context menu

If you are not using Windows Defender, you can disable it completely in Windows 10. See the article on how to disable Windows Defender in Windows 10.

To save your time, use Winaero Tweaker. It has the appropriate option under Context Menu\Remove Default Items:winaero-tweaker-remove-context-menu-entriesYou can get the app here: Download Winaero Tweaker.

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options:

If you like this article, please share it using the buttons below. It won't take a lot from you, but it will help us grow. Thanks for your support!

Advertisеment

Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

5 thoughts on “Add Scan with Windows Defender to Explorer right click context menu in Windows 10”

    1. Yep. Here you go:
      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
      ; Drive Scan

      [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\WindowsDefender]
      "Icon"="%ProgramFiles%\\\\Windows Defender\\\\EppManifest.dll"
      "MUIVerb"="Scan with Windows Defender"

      [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\WindowsDefender\Command]
      @="cmd.exe /s /c \"\"C:\\Program Files\\Windows Defender\\MpCmdRun.exe\" -scan -scantype 3 -SignatureUpdate -file \"%1 \"\" & pause"

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

css.php
Using Telegram? Subscribe to the blog channel!
Hello. Add your message here.