Is it possible to remove defender, antivirus and firewall from the latest Windows 10?

Is it possible to fully remove components like defender, antivirus and firewall from the latest Windows 10 (version 1809)? I mean delete them like it never exists? It's annoying me a lot, even after disabling it starts to remind me that disabled. I wish them to be optional OS components like IIS for example.

3 Answers

WARNING: Removing Windows Defender will cause many dangerous effects in your PC. Disabling Anti-virus and Firewall makes your system vulnerable to malware and viruses. The procedure is irreversible, you may have to clean install Windows 10 OS from scratch to revert this change. DO NOT try this in any working PC.

The following procedure needs a working bootable Windows 10 USB or DVD drive. Insert the bootable drive in PC. Click on the "Repair your computer" option at the lower left corner. There will be a blue window with "Choose an option" heading. Click on the options one-by-one, Troubleshoot > Command prompt. Type these commands to delete the Windows Defender folders:

REM Change current directory to C: drive
cd /d C:\
rd /s /q "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender"
rd /s /q "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection"
rd /s /q "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Defender"
REM These commands are optional
del C:\Windows\System32\smartscreen.exe
del C:\Windows\System32\SecurityHealthService.exe
del C:\Windows\System32\SecurityHealthHost.exe

Now close the Command Prompt, choose "Continue to Windows 10" option to boot current Windows 10 installation and eject the bootable drive safely. Here are the steps as flowchart:

Why do I not use Command Prompt in Windows 10 without a bootable drive?

Windows Defender will not allow the user to delete those folders even with the administrator account. See this article for more details on how to boot into bootable media Command Prompt.

To disable Windows Firewall, use netsh command as administrator which allows all inbound and outbound connections. The command is: netsh advfirewall set allprofiles firewallpolicy allowinbound,allowoutbound. Alternatively, to remove Windows Firewall entirely, stop and delete the services associated with Windows Firewall with sc stop and sc delete commands as following:

REM Windows Defender Firewall Service
sc stop mpssvc & sc delete mpssvc
REM Windows Defender Firewall Authorization Driver
sc stop mpsdrv & sc delete mpsdrv
REM Base Filtering Engine Service
sc stop BFE & sc delete BFE

At last, repeat, THIS MAY BREAK YOUR LIFE COMPUTER.

Although not recommended, to disable and remove Windows Defender completely, here's the direct PowerShell command:Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name Windows-Defender

Reference:

We can not remove firewall and defender in Windows 10, we can only disable or turn off them.

The Windows Firewall is designed to help keep unauthorized users from accessing files and resources on your computer. A firewall is a must-have if you're concerned about your computer's safety; Disabling Windows Defender will open your computer to security threats.

How to disable Windows Firewall and turn off Windows Defender in Windows 10 we can refer to the following articles:

How to Turn Off Windows Defender in Windows 10

How to Disable the Windows Firewall in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP