How to Disable the Microsoft Defender Tray Icon in Windows 11 24H2

With the release of Windows 11 24H2, Microsoft made some subtle but infuriating UI changes – one of them being the persistent new Microsoft Defender tray icon. Unlike the traditional Windows Security shield icon, which could easily be hidden via taskbar settings or selectively disabled, this new icon seems welded to the system tray with no obvious way to get rid of it.

To make matters worse, this icon is tied to a process called MicrosoftSecurityApp.exe, which loads on every reboot – regardless of whether you’ve hidden Defender notifications or not. And no, simply disabling it in Startup apps or using taskkill once won’t do the trick – Windows relaunches it with godlike stubbornness.

But here’s the good news: you can disable just the tray icon, without affecting Microsoft Defender’s actual protection or core functionality.

This guide shows you exactly how to do that – the right way.

Step-by-Step: Disable the Microsoft Defender Tray Icon

1. Open Task Scheduler

• Press Win + S and type Task Scheduler
• Click the result to launch it

2. Create a New Task

• In the right-hand Actions pane, click Create Task (not “Basic Task”)

3. General Tab

• Name your task something like:
  Kill Microsoft Defender Tray Icon
• Check Run with highest privileges

4. Triggers Tab

• Click New…
• Set Begin the task to: At log on
• Check “Delay task for” and set it to 30 seconds
• Click OK

5. Actions Tab

• Click New…
• Action: Start a program
• Program/script: taskkill
• Add arguments: /f /im MicrosoftSecurityApp.exe
• Click OK

6. Save and Reboot

• Click OK to save the task
• Reboot and you’re done.

Microsoft Defender Tray Icon Gone

From now on, each time you log in, Windows will start up like normal. Thirty seconds later, your scheduled task will silently kill the MicrosoftSecurityApp.exe process – effectively removing the Microsoft Defender tray icon while keeping the system protected.

You’ll still get alerts from Windows Security if something important happens, and you can still open the Security app manually when needed.