Right-click on the “Start menu” and select “Settings,” or simply press the Windows + I key combination.The easiest way to disable the SmartScreen filter is to use a system settings menu called “App & Browser Control,” which can be accessed from the Start menu. At times like these, you should turn SmartScreen off. However, there may be times when it’s getting in the way of you visiting sites or downloading things that you know are safe but just haven’t been verified by SmartScreen. It is a built-in security filter that Windows uses. Overall, SmartScreen is a handy security layer that you’re better off leaving on. Today, well review how to disable Windows SmartScreen in Windows 11. If it’s a program, you’ll usually have the option to “Run Anyway.” If SmartScreen pops up on a website you know is safe, click “More Information” and report it as a safe site. It runs in the background on Windows and will usually manifest as a big blue box saying, “Windows protected your PC,” by blocking a given program or website.

It essentially uses a big database of whitelisted and blacklisted sites to analyze whether a given thing is safe to open. SmartScreen works as an early warning system to let a user know whether a site or app is suspicious or a downloaded file wasn’t found in its list of safe software programs. Note: even if you don’t want to run such an unknown file through SmartScreen, before downloading, you can check for potential malware online at VirusTotal.

Windows protected your pc windows 10