How to Perform an Offline Scan with Windows 10 Defender

Co-authored by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: January 16, 2024

This wikiHow article will show you how to run an offline malware scan in Windows Defender for Windows 10. The Windows 10 Anniversary Update introduced the offline scan feature. Rather than attempting a scan while Windows is running as well as an undetected virus running in the background, your computer is restarted and a scan is performed outside of the Windows Desktop to ensure all malware is detected.

Steps

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1
Open Windows Defender Security Center. Click the ^ button in the taskbar notification area, right-click on the white shield icon, and then click Open. You may not need to click the ^ button if it is already shown.
- Alternatively, you can click the Start
  button, type windows defender security center and click the matching result.
- You can also click the start
  button, click on settings. Click Update and Security. Select Windows Security > Open Windows security.
2
Click "Virus & threat protection" from the main screen.
- It resembles a colored shield icon.
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3
Click "Protection updates".
- In the new Feature update to Windows 10, version 1803, the option Protection updates is turned to Virus and threat protection updates.
Wait until the checking (and updating if needed) process has finished. This ensures Windows Defender's malware definition files (used to detect malware) are up to date so that you get the most out of your scan.
Doing so will return you to the previous page and allow you to continue the process of beginning the scan.
6
Click the "Advanced scan" link. It's underneath the Quick scan button.
- In the new Feature update to Windows 10, version 1803, the option "Advanced scan" is turned to "Run a new advanced scan".
Click the Scan now button.
Click Scan to begin the scan. Ensure you save any of your work in other apps before continuing.
10
Confirm the User Account Control window, if prompted. Select Yes from the popup window.
- You might need to enter the password to an admin account.
Your PC will restart and the offline scan will begin. When the scan begins, you will see a window with progress bar. Wait until the scan is finished and for your computer to automatically start.
If any malware files are found and removed, you will be informed via a notification the next time you sign in.

Community Q&A

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Question

The offline scan is a quick scan. How do you run an offline full scan?

The coding cat

Community Answer

You cannot run a full offline scan using Windows defender. Try Avast Antivirus, which is capable of doing that.

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Tips

Try to scan your computer at least once a week to check for viruses and malware regularly.^{[1]
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Expert Source

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist

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You can run Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files, first, if you'd like. This will speed up the process of running the scan.

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