Enable and configure Microsoft Defender Antivirus always-on protection in Group Policy

You can use Local Group Policy Editor to enable and configure Microsoft Defender Antivirus always-on protection settings.

To enable and configure always-on protection:

Open Local Group Policy Editor. To do this:

In your Windows 10 taskbar search box, type gpedit.

Under Best match, click Edit group policy to launch Local Group Policy Editor.

In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, expand the tree to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Microsoft Defender Antivirus.

Configure the Microsoft Defender Antivirus antimalware service policy settings.