You will find below the steps to Disable SmartScreen Filter on your Windows 10 computer, in case this security feature in Windows 10 is causing performance issues and preventing you from downloading harmless or legitimate Apps and content on your computer.
SmartScreen Filter in Windows 10
The SmartScreen Filter in Windows 10 is designed to automatically scan Websites, Apps, Files and Downloads for potentially harmful content as determined by Microsoft’s servers.
When you enable SmartScreen Filter on your computer, it sends information about your downloads to Microsoft’s servers where this information will be analyzed and compared with Microsoft’s growing data base of malicious apps.
In case the feedback from Microsoft’s servers is positive, the SmartScreen Filter will allow you to download and run the App in question. However, if the feedback is negative, it will prevent you from downloading or running the App.
Why Disable SmartScreen Filter
When it is enabled, the SmartScreen Filter in Windows 10 provides an additional layer of security, in addition to the Antivirus program that you might be using on your computer.
However, there are users who have reported Disabling the SmartScreen Filter on their computers for the following reasons.
1. In some cases, the SmartScreen filter is known to prevent genuine or harmless content from being downloaded. Apparently, this happens when the SmartScreen Filter is unable to find information about the App that you are trying to download or run on your computer.
2. Some users have reported instances of SmartScreen Filter preventing them from downloading harmless Word Documents from Google Drive that they themselves had uploaded to Google Drive.
3. Some users have also reported about not being able to download Apps and Files on their computers even after they had voluntarily opted to bypass the SmartScreen Filter Warning on their computer and continue with the download.
Hence, we are providing below the steps to disable SmartScreen Filter in Windows 10, in case you are experiencing problems and performance issues on your computer due to SmartScreen Filter.
Steps to Disable SmartScreen Filter in Windows 10
Follow the steps below to disable the SmartScreen Filter on your Windows 10 computer.
1. Click on Windows 10 Start button, scroll down the list of apps and then click on Windows Defender Security Center option in the list of apps (See image below).
2. On the Windows Defender Security Center screen, click on the 3-bar menu icon located at the top left corner of your screen.
3. On the next screen, click on the App & browser control option in the Sidebar menu and then disable the option for Check Apps and Files (See image below).
As you can see from the image above, you will see a Yellow Hazard Sign and Warning about your computer being vulnerable, whenever you disable the Windows SmartScreen Filter from checking your device for unrecognized Apps and Files.
Unfortunately, there is no way to get rid of this Sign and you will continue to see this Warning Message as long as you keep the SmartScreen Filter disabled for Apps & Files on your computer.
However, this should not be a problem to you, in case you are disabling the SmartScreen Filter to fix performance issues and you do have another Antivirus Program taking care of the Security on your computer.
4. While you are on the same screen, scroll down to SmartScreen for Microsoft Edge section (See image below)
On this screen, you can choose the Warn option to allow the SmartScreen Filter in Microsoft Edge browser to warn you, in case you come across malicious websites and downloads on the internet.
You can also choose to Turn OFF the SmartScreen Filter in Microsoft Edge browser, in case you are noticing performance issues and the SmartScreen Filter is preventing you from downloading genuine/harmless Files and content to your computer.
5. On the same screen, scroll down to SmartScreen For Windows Store Apps section (See image below)
As you can see from the description of this section, SmartScreen Filter for Windows Store Apps comes into play only when any app that you had downloaded from Windows Store tries to access the internet.
Depending on your case, you can either disable the SmartScreen Filter for Windows Store Apps or keep it active by choosing the Warn Setting (See image above).