Windows Security: Here are the key settings you need to enable

Believe it or not, but Windows 11 is one of the most secure operating systems out there. All it takes is a few reasonable precautions, the removal of unnecessary security apps, and toggling a few settings to keep your system secure.

Highly targeted attacks and hardware vulnerabilities aside, it’s surprisingly hard to compromise a Windows-powered machine. Here are a few settings you can tweak to enhance your Windows PC’s security. 

Uninstall any antivirus programs

This might seem counter-intuitive, but the first thing you should do is uninstall any antivirus program that you have on your system. This includes Norton and McAfee — which are usually pre-installed — as well as any third-party ones like Avast or AVG. 

Windows has a powerful, built-in antivirus and security suite called Windows Defender. Third-party antivirus programs don’t have the necessary access or permissions and must be granted these explicitly at the time of installation. When you do this, you’re basically granting the maker of your antivirus suite full access and control over your system. 

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The problem is that many of these companies overstep their boundaries or are simply not as secure or as capable as they claim to be. This is especially true for free, ad-supported antivirus programs that inject ads into your system. Even established names like Norton or McAfee can create problems by being poorly optimised and often too intrusive.

As long as you’re updating your system and apps regularly, Windows Defender is more than capable of looking after your Windows PC.

Stay updated

It’s best to set your Windows Updates to run automatically in the background. This is enabled by default but you can check by searching for Windows Update using the search function and ensuring that your system is up to date. You’ll see a ‘Last Checked’ indicator which lets you know the date and time the last update happened.

This window will also inform you if there are any pending updates. You don’t need to toggle on the switch for ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ as this setting is for new, non-critical updates, which are not necessary for security. You can further tweak the settings in ‘Advanced Options’, but you don’t really need to touch these to stay secure.

Lastly, ensure your apps are updated. This will have to be done on a per-app basis but should be enabled by default if you haven’t changed any settings at the time of installation.

Windows Security check

Next, search for ‘Windows Security’ via the search function and ensure that all items under ‘Protection areas’ have a green tick mark. If not, you’ll need to click on the items without a green tick to view recommended actions to secure your system.

Health check

You can also open Privacy and Security settings in the Settings window to check on app permissions. Here it’s best to focus on apps that have Location, Camera, and Voice activation permissions. Ensure that only apps you recognise and trust have the requisite permissions.

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These settings aside, simply being careful when browsing the web, responding to emails, and downloading apps will go a long way towards keeping your system safe. Don’t browse shady websites if you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t download apps or files (especially PDFs) that you don’t trust, and avoid clicking on any links in emails.

Stay safe.