How to Change Windows Defender Exploit Protection Settings in Windows 10
Starting with Windows 10 build 16232, you can now audit, configure, and manage Windows system and application exploit mitigation settings (EMET EOL) right from Windows Security.
Exploit protection is built into Windows 10 to help protect your device against attacks. Out of the box, your device is already set up with the protection settings that work best for most people.
Exploit protection is part of Windows Defender Exploit Guard. Exploit protection helps protect devices from malware that use exploits to spread and infect. It consists of a number of mitigations that can be applied at either the operating system level, or at the individual app level.
You configure these settings using the Windows Defender Security Center on an individual machine, and then export the configuration as an XML file as a backup and that you can deploy to other machines.
For more information, see also:
- Enable exploit protection | Microsoft Docs
- Protect devices from exploits | Microsoft Docs
- Import, export, and deploy exploit protection configurations | Microsoft Docs
- Customize exploit protection | Microsoft Docs
- View attack surface reduction events | Microsoft Docs
- Mitigate threats by using Windows 10 security features | Microsoft Docs
- Moving Beyond EMET Defense
This tutorial will show you how to change the Exploit protection settings for your system and programs from Windows Security in Windows 10.
You must be signed in as an administrator to change Exploit Protection settings.
Contents
- Option One: To Customize System Settings for Exploit Protection
- Option Two: To Add Program to Customize in Program Settings for Exploit Protection
- Option Three: To Remove Program in Program Settings for Exploit Protection
- Option Four: To Customize Program Settings for Exploit Protection
1 Open Windows Security, and click/tap on the App & browser control icon. (see screenshot below)
2 Click/tap on the Exploit protection settings link at the bottom. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on System settings in Exploit protection, and customize the system settings how you want. (see screenshots below)
Some changes will require you to restart the computer to apply.
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4 After each setting change, click/tap on Yes when prompted by UAC to approve.
5 When finished, you can close Windows Security if you like.
1 Open Windows Security, and click/tap on the App & browser control icon. (see screenshot below)
2 Click/tap on the Exploit protection settings link at the bottom. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on Program settings in Exploit protection, click/tap on the Add program to customize + button, and click/tap on Choose exact file path. (see screenshot below)
4 Navigate to and select the .exe file (ex: "notepad.exe") you want to add, and click/tap on Open. (see screenshot below)
5 You can now go to step 5 in Option Four below to customize the program settings for this .exe file (ex: "notepad.exe"). (see screenshots below)
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1 Open Windows Security, and click/tap on the App & browser control icon. (see screenshot below)
2 Click/tap on the Exploit protection settings link at the bottom. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on Program settings in Exploit protection. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on a listed program (ex: "excel.exe") you want to remove, and click/tap on the Remove button. (see screenshot below)
5 Click/tap on Yes when prompted by UAC to approve.
6 When finished, you can close Windows Security if you like.
1 Open Windows Security, and click/tap on the App & browser control icon. (see screenshot below)
2 Click/tap on the Exploit protection settings link at the bottom. (see screenshot below)
3 Click/tap on Program settings in Exploit protection. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on a listed program (ex: "excel.exe") you want to customize settings for, and click/tap on the Edit button. (see screenshot below)
5 Edit the program settings how you want for this program, and click/tap on the Apply button at the bottom when finished. (see screenshots below)
Any changes will require you to restart the program if currently open.
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6 Click/tap on Yes when prompted by UAC to approve.
7 When finished, you can close Windows Security if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
Related Tutorials
- How to Open Windows Defender Security Center in Windows 10
- How to Export and Import Windows Defender Exploit Protection Settings in Windows 10
- How to Enable or Disable Windows Defender Exploit Guard Network Protection in Windows 10
- Hide or Show App and Browser Control in Windows Defender Security Center in Windows 10
- How to Enable or Disable Windows Defender Exploit Protection Settings in Windows 10