How To Add “Windows Defender Scan” To Right Click Menu on Windows 8

Windows Defender is a inbuilt security software in Windows 8 which used to be called as Microsoft Antispyware. Though it is completely integrated, a feature to scan specific folder on right click menu with Windows Defender would have been appreciated.

Not just spyware, In Windows 8, this program is even stronger. It now includes all the tools in Microsoft Security Essentials, which help keep your computer out of trouble, such as viruses and spyware. Thanks to this combination, you are more protected from malware.

But something is still missing in Windows Defender, within Windows 8, is the inclusion of an option from the context menu that allows to scan specific items. That is, when you want to open a folder, but has doubts about the reliability of it, just click with the right mouse button on the item and choose the “Scan with Windows Defender.”

Thus, no need to do a scan for entire computer to see if a file or folder has some specific malware. In this tutorial we will teach how to make this Windows defender scan appear in the context menu.

How to Add “Scan with Windows Defender” to Right Click Menu

1. Open Run Command (Win + R)

2. Type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor.

3. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > Folder > Shell.

4. Right click on Shell and create new Key and rename it as “Windows Defender“.

5. Right Click on Widows Defender and create new String Value.

6. Edit Value name as “Icon” and enter Value data as %ProgramFiles%\\Windows Defender\\EppManifest.dll

7. Within Windows Defender, create one more String Value with Value Name as MUIVerb and Value Data as Scan with Windows Defender.

8. Inside Windows Defender, create new Key, name it as “Command” and Enter value as C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe” -scan -scantype 3 -SignatureUpdate -file %1

Note that if Windows installation drive is different from C:\, replace it with suitable alphabet.

9. That’s it. From now on, you will notice that on right clicking on any Folder, there is another menu called “Scan with Windows Defender”.

Command Prompt Windows opens and scans all the files in folder. It disappears as soon as scan is complete and if at all there is infection, you will get notified.

Scanning a folder is now really easy as it used to be on some 3rd party security software.

If you are using some another Antivirus software to protect Windows then, it is obvious that Windows Defender will be disabled and you won’t need it.

For those, who still prefer, don’t you think Microsoft should have included Windows Defender Scan on Right Click menu by default?