Windows Defender Command-Line Shortcuts

This document describes useful Command Prompt and PowerShell commands for opening Windows Defender (Windows Security) pages and managing exclusions.

Open Defender Exclusions (Whitelist) Page

To directly open the Windows Defender Exclusions screen from Command Prompt:

start windowsdefender://exclusions

This navigates to:
Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Exclusions

Other Useful Defender Pages

Open the main Windows Security application:

start windowsdefender:

Open Virus & Threat Protection:

start windowsdefender://threat

Open Protection History:

start windowsdefender://history

Add Exclusions from Command Line

You can add exclusions directly using PowerShell commands (invoked from CMD if desired).

Add a folder or file exclusion:

powershell -command "Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath 'C:\Your\Path'"

Add a process exclusion:

powershell -command "Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess 'yourapp.exe'"