Windows Defender notification area icon

I like to see the Windows Defender notification area icon, so I've set my PC to show that item. However, is there a way to turn off the exclamation point item in that icon that says I haven't run a scan in a while? My last scan was 4 days ago and I don't want to be hounded to run more scans. I see no settings for that in Windows Defender settings. As I recall, this adjustment could be made in Windows 7, from which I upgraded to Windows 10. Thanks.

Hello gogreen, :)

Usually going ahead and running another quick or full scan should clear it.

Usually going ahead and running another quick or full scan should clear it.

Hi Shawn. It does clear it, but every four days? Sheesh! I don't need to run scans that often. That's why I was hoping to be able to keep the icon in the notification area but remove the scan reminders. If I can't remove the reminders, I'll probably go back to the default setting of removing the icon from the notification area.

Thanks, jds63. Just saw your post. I'll check that out.

nosecureboot said:

Is there a way to force it the Windows Defender icon to appear in the Task Tray without starting Windows Defender first?

For me at least, the Windows Defender icon doesn't appear in the Task Tray unless it's started first.

I've found 2 solutions, however both require starting up Windows Defender first (at first logon), either through Task Scheduler or by setting Windows Defender as a Startup application.

Hello nosecureboot, :)

You can use the method in the tutorial below to always show the Windows Defender notification area icon without having to do all that.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1...dows-10-a.html

You're most welcome. :)

I reset only the scheduled scan task with a new trigger, but the warning icon with yellow exclamation point is back in the system tray. I suspect all four Windows Defender tasks are tied together, and I'm a bit leery about messing with any more of them. I suspect that any one of those tasks triggers the warning icon. So I guess I'll just wave goodbye to the system tray icon and return that setting to the default.

Just curious, are you running CCleaner? If so, you need to disable anything related to Defender when you run it.

This was a problem with 7 & 8, if you ran it & didn't uncheck MS Malware & MS Security client, as it would erase the logs & make it appear as though a scan was not run in a long time.