Some Windows 11 users have started receiving notifications claiming that their antivirus is turned off and their devices are no longer protected.
It later emerged that the notifications were caused by a bug and that users’ computers remained protected. Microsoft confirmed that it was aware of the issue and was working on a fix.
According to the company, after installing the latest Defender Antivirus update, users may see a notification claiming that Microsoft Defender Antivirus is turned off, even though the antivirus continues to function normally.
“These notifications can appear when Windows starts and intermittently afterward. They persist even if notification settings are turned off,” Microsoft said.
The company is working on a solution that it plans to include in the next Microsoft Defender Antivirus update. Until the fix is released, users can simply ignore the false notification. The issue affects both Windows 11 and Windows 10 users.
The bug is believed to have appeared a few days ago, although some users say it has been bothering them for much longer.
“This has been driving me nuts for 2 months now,” one Reddit user wrote.
“It’s like they’re trying to get people to switch switch to Linux at this rate,” another user added, recalling the company’s promise “to do better” with its updates.
Other participants in the discussion also expressed frustration with the way Windows works.
Windows 11 bug is warning "Virus protection is off," Microsoft confirms it's false
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“Quality control is absolutely garbage at Microsoft right now. How do you screw up basic stuff like the mouse or Defender showing on/off?” another user wrote, referring to a separate bug involving the mouse cursor.
It was previously reported that a Windows update changed some users’ cursor settings, causing the pointer to become either too small or too large.
“Seems like that’s something you should fix immediately. Guess I’m expecting a lot from one of the biggest companies in history, though,” one Reddit user concluded.
Although Windows 11 has been on the market for several years, the quality of the operating system continues to be a subject of debate among users. Over time, they have reported numerous Windows 11 bugs, including one that caused a system file to consume an excessive amount of storage space.
The issue involved the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file, which Windows uses to log access to the microphone, camera, location, and other features. The file is normally supposed to occupy only a few megabytes, but on some devices it grew to several hundred gigabytes.
Frustration with Microsoft’s latest operating system has led some users to avoid upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. This prompted the company to extend the Windows 10 update program for another year so that users’ devices would not be left without protection.
