Locate the “Windows Defender notification icon” option in the list, right-click it, and select “Disable”.
To access it, right-click your taskbar and select “Start Task Manager” or press Ctrl+Alt+Esc on your keyboard.Ĭlick the “More Details” button, then click the Startup tab. You can disable this autostart program form the Task Manager. Instead, the tray icon is produced by another program that launches when you sign into your PC. You can’t simply right-click the Defender icon and close it, nor can you open the Windows Defender interface and find an option to hide or unhide the icon.