Forum Discussion
"Turn on Virus Protection" Notification appears after the latest update
This is a known issue reported widely in forums. It might be caused by July Cumulative Update Preview or August Cumulative Updates. We may expect a fix from September Cumulative Updates.
UPDATE (18/09/2026): This issue has been resolved by Microsoft. If you're affected, pls install or update the Microsoft Defender Antivirus update (version 4.18.26080.4) update:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/resolved-issues-windows-11-25H2#august-2026
You can also refer detailed fix here:
https://www.kapilarya.com/turn-on-virus-protection-keeps-popping-up-in-windows-11
Hope this helps!
Note: Included link in this reply refers to blog post by a trusted Microsoft MVP.
I’m also facing a similar issue. After restarting my system, Windows Defender keeps showing a pop-up asking me to turn on virus protection, even though the virus protection is already enabled and working.
Not sure why Defender is showing this warning after every restart. Any idea why this is happening?