Improving Performance in the Microsoft Defender
In case you are using Microsoft Defender, you might observe performance issue during the scan. In general user might say why quick scan take like few hours or full scan runs for hours. Underestand the performance issue with Microsoft Defender is a complex task and it depends on many factors such as the type of your hard disk, your system requirements (e.g., CPU, Memory, etc.), running process during the scan, type of files, and so on. While scan is running it is not easy to see which file or application causing the performance issue and it required expertise and skill of using and analyzing with tools like the one available in Windows Sysinternals , but it doesn’t guarantee you will find the cause of the problem and is time consuming process. In addition, we always advise users to report performance issues using the Feedback Hub app in Windows 10 and Windows 11. While Windows team will review feedbacks and investigate the issue, it will take time for them to identify and resolve the issue. It is always good idea to share feedback with the Windows team but in case you are the IT administrator or you are looking for a way to resolve your problem yourselves, then this post will guide you on how to identify potential performance issue in Microsoft Defender.
Check Health of Your Hard Disk: In case you are using HDD hard disk (not SSD) make sure check for defragment and perform defragment if needed. This would improve the performance of your system and will have positive impact on your scanning. Some devices come with application to analyze the health of the hard disk and give you guidance to optimize it. Make sure look into the such a tool (if any) and improve the health of your hard disk if you can.
Improve the Performance of Your Hardware: Systems with better hardware specifications are faster and scanning would be better. Sometimes in order to improve the performance you will need to purchase a new device and it is costly. For example, it is not easy to upgrade the CPU in several devices. However, you could easily increase the RAM in most devices and if possible, you should do it.
Place Compressed and Installation File in a Different Location: Compress files such as RAR and ZIP and installation file would slow the performance of scanning because scanner need to look into what is inside the zip or installer. It is always good idea to unzip your files and avoid using zip files inside your PC as much as possible. You may place all zip files and installation files into an external hard disk and while you have access to them, they are not inside the PC and won’t slow your performance.
Use Microsoft Defender Performance Analyzer: There is a way to check what is causing the slow performance during the scan. You may use a PowerShell command call New-MpPerformanceRecording and record the performance issue for the Microsoft Defender and look into the record to get idea of what causing the performance problem in the Microsoft Defender. From the report, you may identify what causing the performance issue and then take action to resolve it. To learn more have a look at Performance analyzer for Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Submit Feedback: It is always a good idea to submit performance issue with the Microsoft Defender using the Feedback Hub app. In this case, the team will investigate and work on improving the performance based on reports.