If you're using a third-party antivirus program and want to prevent Antimalware Service Executable from consuming too many resources, here's how to disable it. 💻

1. Disable Windows Security Real-Time Protection

You can disable the function of Windows real-time protection Security to kill the Antimalware process. However, we recommend installing another security tool once you disable this feature in the Windows Security app. 🔒

1. First, click on the Windows search engine and type Windows Security. Then, open the Windows Security app from the list.

2. When you open the app, click on the tab Protection against Viruses and Threats.

3. Click on the link Manage settings under the Protection settings Viruses and Threats.

4. On the next screen, deactivate the option to Real-time protection. Also you can disable the other two options: Cloud-delivered protection and automatic sample submission.

This will disable Windows Security/Defender's real-time protection feature and resolve the high CPU usage of the Antimalware Service Executable. ⚙️

2. Disable Windows Defender from the Registry Editor

Since the 'Antimalware Service Executable' is linked to Windows Defender, we need disable Windows Defender from the Registry Editor. Although you can disable Windows Defender from Settings, it still runs some background processes. So, here's how to disable it from the Registry Editor.

1. First, open the Run dialog box and type regedit.

2. Now go to the following route – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender

3. Then, do right click on Windows Defend and select New > DWORD.

4. Name the new key as DisableAntiSpyware, double click on it and set the value to 1.

3. Stop 'Antimalware Service Executable' from the Group Policy Editor

If the registry method fails to stop the 'Antimalware Service Executable,' you can consider this alternative method. Here, users will need to change the settings in the Group Policy Editor to complete the process.

1. Open the Run dialog box and type gpedit.msc

2. In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Defender Antivirus/Real-time Protection. In the right menu, double-click Disable real-time protection.

3. In the next window, select Enabled and click on Apply.

4. Disable Scheduled Tasks

Windows Defender has several scheduled tasks to ensure protection appropriate. Since it is scheduled to start at a specific time, users do not have the option to terminate 'Antimalware Service Executable'. Therefore, they must disable all scheduled tasks associated with Windows Defender to remove the 'Antimalware Service Executable'. ⚠️

1. Open the Windows search menu and search Task Scheduler.

2. In the next step, navigate to the following path – Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Windows Defender.

3. You'll see four scheduled tasks. Right-click on all of them and select Deactivate.

5. Install Another Antivirus Tool

Windows Defender is activated when your system doesn't have third-party security tools. It won't run at the same time as third-party software. Therefore, if the methods mentioned above fail to disable the 'Antimalware Service Executable' from the Task Manager, you need to install a third-party antivirus. 🛡️

Third-party security tools such as Malwarebytes and Kaspersky Security are more powerful and effective than the default Windows Defender. 📃

These are the best methods to fix the 'Antimalware Service Executable' issue on a Windows PC. If you know of other methods to resolve this issue, leave us a comment below! 👇