Update Windows Defender automatically, even with Task Scheduler


It’s a shame that Windows Defender is included in general Windows Updates only and cannot be updated automatically when you have turned off automatic download and installation of the other Windows Updates. However, a solution exists, and it’s easy. You can configure yourself a Defender Update job in your Task Scheduler, or download it ready to import it in the Scheduler and rock!

To configure the job yourself, open the Windows Start Menu and write “Task Scheduler” to find the app and run it. At the Scheduler’s right pane select the “Create Basic Task” option. Give your task a name you can understand later, such as “Windows Defender Update”. Skip the cards that follow, leaving the default options as they are and clicking the “Next” button, until you see the card named “Start a Program”. Copy the following command and paste it to the “Program/script” textbox: C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe (Make sure enclose this command in quotes). Next copy the following command and paste it to the textbox named “Add arguments”: -SignatureUpdate (Do NOT enclose this command in quotes).

No need to write anything else. When you click to “Finish” the task, Task Scheduler opens the detailed properties to let you fine tune everything. In the “General” tab you can have the task to run whenever a user is logged on and Windows 10 as the target OS. In the “Settings” tab be sure there’s a check by “Allow task to be run on demand”, and “Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed”.

If you prefer to avoid the task creation job, you can just download from here an XML file with the Defender Update Task configured and ready to just import it in the Task Scheduler. To import the Task, open the Task Scheduler, right click the “Task Scheduler Library” at the left pane, and select the option “Import task”. In the dialogue that opens just locate the XML file downloaded from here, to import the task in the scheduler. Now you should be able to see in the list of tasks a new task named “Defender Update”. Feel free to open its properties and review them in case you prefer anything changed. Enjoy!

Download Windows Defender Auto Update Task