Microsoft Defender Offline in Windows 10 and Windows 11 has the same hardware requirements as Windows 10.įor more information about Windows 10 and Windows 11 requirements, see the following topics:īefore running an offline scan, you should attempt to update Microsoft Defender Antivirus protection. In previous versions of Windows, a user had to install Microsoft Defender Offline to bootable media, restart the endpoint, and load the bootable media. In Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft Defender Offline can be run with one click directly from the Windows Security app.
You can use Microsoft Defender Offline if you suspect a malware infection, or you want to confirm a thorough clean of the endpoint after a malware outbreak. The scan runs from outside the normal Windows kernel so it can target malware that attempts to bypass the Windows shell, such as viruses and rootkits that infect or overwrite the master boot record (MBR). Microsoft Defender Offline is an antimalware scanning tool that lets you boot and run a scan from a trusted environment.
