Windows Defender: This setting is managed by your administrator

Some users see, “This setting is managed by your administrator” message in Microsoft Defender, and because of this, they are either unable to enable all three settings – Real-time protection, Cloud-delivered protection, and Automatic Sample submission, or one of them.

This setting is managed by your administrator – Defender

You may see this message This setting is managed by your administrator for the following functions in Windows Security:

1. Real-time protection
2. Cloud delivery protection
3. Automatic Sample Submission.

Typically, this means that your system administrator has indeed configured these settings, and it would make sense to discuss this with him. But if you are the admin, then these are things you can do to fix the issues.

1. Check if you are using any 3rd party tool
2. Scan for virus and malware
3. Delete Windows Defender Registry key
4. Delete AntiSpyware
5. Check Registry or Group Policy settings.

Let us talk about them in detail.

1] Check if you are using any 3rd party tool

If you are using a 3rd-party tweak tool to harden your Windows 10 security, then maybe it made these changes via the Registry or Group Policy.

You might want to identify it and uninstall it or use its Reset to Windows defaults button and see if that helps,

2] Scan for virus and malware

To fix the issue, you need to scan your computer for viruses and malware. We don’t recommend using third-party anti-malware software to delete malware, as it can register itself as the primary protection; therefore, we are going to use Microsoft Defender.

To do that, follow the prescribed steps:

1. Launch Settings by Win + I
2. Click Update & Security > Windows Security > Open Windows Security.
3. Click Virus & threat protection > Scan options > Microsoft Defender Offline scan > Scan now.

Let it scan your computer and delete the virus.

Check if it fixes the problem. If this didn’t fix your issue, you could try the next solution.

Related: Some settings are managed by your organization.

3] Delete Windows Defender Registry key

Deleting Windows Defender Key in the Registry Editor has worked for me and will certainly work for you. So, to do that, launch Registry Editor from the Start Menu and navigate to the following location.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

Right-click on Windows Defender, select Export, create a New Folder on your PC (preferably on the Desktop), open it, name the file “Windows Defender,” and click Save.

Now, do this for all the sub-keys and delete Windows Defender.

Finally, restart your PC, and the problem will be fixed.

Related: Your Virus & threat protection is managed by your organization.

4] Delete AntiSpyware key

If the above solution didn’t work for you or you are not comfortable with Registry Editor, you can delete AntiSpyware to fix this issue. To do that, launch Command Prompt as an administrator by Win + R > type “cmd” > Ctrl + Shift + Enter, type the following command and hit Enter.

REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender" /v DisableAntiSpyware

It will ask you to confirm your action, so hit “Y” to do that.

Finally, restart your computer and see if the issue persists. Hopefully, your problem will be fixed.

These solutions will definitely work for you as they worked for me.

Read: Cloud-delivered protection is off, Your device may be vulnerable

5] Check Registry or Group Policy settings

Now you may need a bit of expertise to do this. You have to check the settings manually.

You can find the Defender settings in Registry under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Advanced Threat Protection

And in Group Policy under:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus

You will have to check if any have been Configured. You need to make sure they’re Not configured.

Read Next: How to harden Windows Defender security.