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Fix: Windows 11 Cannot Open Windows Security

Fix: Windows 11 Cannot Open Windows Security

November 18, 2021 by Madalina Dinita 78 Comments

Windows Security may sometimes throw up all kinds of strange errors when you try to launch it. For example, it may suggest you need a new app to open the Windows Defender link. The Windows Security window briefly opens but then automatically disappears. If restarting your computer doesn’t solve the problem, pursue the troubleshooting solutions below.

How Do I Fix Windows Security Not Opening on Windows 11?

you-need-a-new-app-to-open-this-windowsdefender-link

Repair and Reset the Windows Security App

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select Apps.
  3. Go to Apps & features.
  4. Locate the Windows Security app.
  5. Click on the three dots and select Advanced options.windows-security-advanced-options
  6. Hit the Repair button.
  7. If the issue persists, hit the Reset button.

repair-or-reset-windows-security

You can also use PowerShell to reset your Windows Security app package. Launch PowerShell with admin rights and run the following command: Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage. Then close the PowerShell window and check the results.

Run SFC and DISM

If your system files got corrupted, specific built-in Windows 11 components, such as Windows Security, may stop working. Use the System File Checker and Deployment Image Servicing and Management tools to detect and repair faulty system files automatically.

  1. Click on the Search icon and enter cmd in the Search field.
  2. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
  3. Then, run the sfc /scannow command. Wait until the SFC tool scans your system.run SFC command prompt
  4. Run the Dism/Online/Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth command as well.
  5. Restart your computer and check if the issue is gone.

Disable Background Apps

Launch the Task Manager and force-stop all the unnecessary processes running in the background. Some of them might be interfering with Windows Security. Alternatively, you can also clean boot your computer to ensure nothing’s interfering with Windows’ built-in security solution.

Disable and Uninstall Third-Party Security Tools

As a quick reminder, you can’t run two different antivirus solutions on your system. It’s best to turn off any third-party antivirus apps you may be using. If the issue persists, disable your third-party firewall, anti-malware tool, and so on. Check if you notice any improvements. If you still can’t open Windows Security, uninstall third-party security solutions and check the results.

Conclusion

If you can’t open Windows Security on Windows 11, use PowerShell to reset the Windows Security app package. Then, repair and reset your Windows Security app. Additionally, run SFC and DISM to restore faulty system files. If the issue persists, disable and uninstall third-party security tools.

Which of these solutions worked for you? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to share this guide on social media.

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Filed Under: Windows Tagged With: Windows 11

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. james says

    July 12, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    Perfect!
    1-Just copy & paste=Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers
    Press enter.

    2-Copy & paste=Reset-AppxPackage
    Press enter.

    Very simple,worked the 1st time for me.
    All the credit goes to=TECHNIPAGES.COM
    Great site!

  2. Colby says

    July 12, 2022 at 1:12 am

    The powershell command worked perfectly!!!

  3. John M says

    June 13, 2022 at 5:05 am

    …Problem solved. I ran the offline scan and after automatic restart it was fine!

  4. John M says

    June 13, 2022 at 4:48 am

    …just noticed that the little warning triangle is still showing in the taskbar although when I open the security panel it says that nothing is wrong.

  5. John M says

    June 13, 2022 at 4:44 am

    Powershell command worked perfectly. Many thanks!

  6. Shambuyi Aubin Tshiyole says

    June 8, 2022 at 2:26 am

    Great!
    Powerahell worked perfectly. Thank you so much.

  7. Frank From Flint says

    June 6, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    Thank you so very much. My Windows 10 computer wouldn’t wake from sleep. It must have been in a coma. (-: Since I couldn’t turn it on I tried using the “three-finger salute” to bring up task manager and turn it off. That didn’t work either so I held down the powrer button until it shut off, waited a minute and turned it back on. That’s when the problems really started. After resetting it and upgrading it to Windows 11, TWICE, I still had this problem. I wish I had read this earlier as it would have saved me considerable time and effort.

    It’s the first time in my life I ever used Powershell for anything but I was out of options. The Windows Security app simply didn’t exist as far as I could tell. Everything is as it should be now, except I lost all my files. I saved the most important ones to a flash drive, but Dell SupportAssist is more or less saying there’s nothing on there. Ill be searching the site to see if you have a way I can open the USMT.MIG files I have unzipped without buying a progarm online to do it. Thank you again for your immense help. Have a blessed day.

    Big Frank, Minister
    Universal Life Church

  8. tommy says

    June 5, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    Thank you for the powershell instructions!

  9. Jarrod says

    June 5, 2022 at 7:53 am

    Running powershell as admin with the command in the article fixed it straight away. Thanks Technipages, thanks a lot. I love google man. I would love an explanation of how that fixed it though!

  10. Babouk says

    June 5, 2022 at 7:27 am

    Works fine with PowerSvhell as admin. Now I can access to the windoxs security panel

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

  11. Njaza says

    May 23, 2022 at 11:10 am

    Thanks Alot The Powershell Method Woeked Like Magic

  12. russell says

    May 20, 2022 at 6:41 am

    Powershell worked for me too – thank you so much – praise the Lord

  13. Skid says

    May 19, 2022 at 11:08 pm

    The following doesn’t work, as Windows 11 does not show an app called ‘Windows Security’. However, Windows Security is a setting and it doesn’t allow any tampering/adjustment – it keeps asking for an app to open from Microsoft.

    Go to Settings.
    Select Apps.
    Go to Apps & features.
    Locate the Windows Security app.
    Click on the three dots and select Advanced options.

  14. Simo says

    May 14, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage worked for me, i have the latest version of windows 11 and this was the way to go, i now have access to windows security
    Best Regards and thank you
    Simo from Greece

  15. Joy Black says

    May 9, 2022 at 10:19 pm

    Thank you,
    Power Shell worked for me. Great help

  16. siroos says

    May 6, 2022 at 9:37 pm

    THANKS .
    POWER SHELL WORKED RIGHT

  17. William says

    May 2, 2022 at 9:55 pm

    PowerShell worked

  18. Lizet says

    May 2, 2022 at 9:54 am

    Thank you soooo much Madalina ♥ with powerShell option works great!
    ♥♥♥♥♥

  19. Ivan says

    May 2, 2022 at 4:21 am

    The Windows PowerShell fix worked for me!!

  20. Erfan Asghari says

    May 2, 2022 at 4:11 am

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    this really works with powershell as admin . tnx

  21. nakul says

    May 1, 2022 at 5:42 am

    POWERSHELL App worked like a charm! Thank you a lot

  22. Ed says

    May 1, 2022 at 2:56 am

    Powershell option also worked for me – Thanks!

  23. Christopher says

    April 24, 2022 at 4:09 am

    Powershell command really works like a charm, thank you very much!

  24. coder says

    April 23, 2022 at 9:07 pm

    The Powershell hack actually works

  25. 14k edits says

    April 23, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    Good Day, just want to say that

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    command worked in powershell for me. thanks for the help.

  26. Jumail ahamed says

    April 18, 2022 at 9:12 am

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    this really works with powershell as admin

    Thank you sooo muchhh!!!

  27. Svend Erik says

    April 14, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    powershell dit the trick – Thanks!

  28. anon says

    April 13, 2022 at 5:55 am

    Hey there!
    After days with a new Windows 11 over Windows 10 installation, I suddenly got this error today. I could no longer access Windows Security.
    It was all completely gone, just as explained here in the article.
    So here I tried step one. Bugs were also found and fixed.
    The second step did nothing for me. (windows image)
    But then I read about Powershell. I didn’t know this, I’ve always heard something about it, but I never needed it.
    So I thought, I searched for “Powershell” in Cortana (or Windows-Start “search”) and lo and behold, it popped up.
    Right click admin.
    In Powershell, simply right-click the previously copied text:

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    After a few seconds everything was fixed and everything worked without rebooting! Of course, to be on the safe side, I restarted and yes, everything works!
    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

  29. billy Chongin says

    April 12, 2022 at 2:05 am

    PowerShell worked, however i don’t feel like this isn’t the way to go.

    Thanks..

  30. RagerX says

    April 9, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    This fixed it.

    You can also use PowerShell to reset your Windows Security app package. Launch PowerShell with admin rights and run the following command: Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage.

    Thanks!!

  31. Jenn says

    April 9, 2022 at 9:30 am

    Thanks for this guide! Windows 11 killed my Windows Security. Your guide brought it back for me. Cheers. :)

    P.S. Why did you do away with the URL option? As a fellow blogger, I’m a little irked at the inability to link to my blog. This feels rather one-sided.

  32. waazze says

    April 8, 2022 at 5:41 am

    tnx . first i checked cmd and restarted , but not worked . secondly tried powershell with Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage command . works instant. tnx a lot

  33. Bill S. says

    April 7, 2022 at 8:24 am

    Powershell command worked. Thanks!

  34. Dems says

    April 6, 2022 at 5:04 am

    Amazing…..!!!

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    Ran the code above on PowerShell (run as admin)
    worked like a charm.

  35. Abdulsalam says

    April 3, 2022 at 1:15 am

    thank you so much.. using powershell was successful.

  36. GK says

    March 31, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    Powershell threw an error.. after I ran the sfc /scannow and ran the powershell command again, it went fine. Thanks so much for this detailed article.

  37. Michael says

    March 28, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    Powershell worked for me. Thanks

  38. Benjamin Victor says

    March 25, 2022 at 8:16 pm

    Worked for me too! Thanks. Initialy I tried to use command on cmd but only works on PowerShell!! really helped.

  39. y says

    March 23, 2022 at 4:59 pm

    powershell command did the job, thanks

  40. Dennis M says

    March 23, 2022 at 9:30 am

    Thank you so much. I had tried everything but nothing was working….until I saw you post.
    The Windows PowerShell worked immediately. Thanks a lot.

  41. Mike says

    March 23, 2022 at 7:28 am

    Powershell option worked for me. Thanks

  42. Securenss says

    March 23, 2022 at 5:46 am

    Thank you so much! You are Genius!
    This really Worked!
    Run Power Shell with Admin privs, then just execute the following command:
    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

  43. Jesper Johansson says

    March 22, 2022 at 8:42 am

    Thank – the Powershell command worked for me.

  44. Pramoda Dilshan says

    March 20, 2022 at 9:49 pm

    Thank you so much, the Powershell command worked for me.

  45. himanshu kumar says

    March 18, 2022 at 10:18 am

    Thank you so much! You are Genius!
    This really Worked!
    Run Power Shell with Admin privs, then just execute the following command:
    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

  46. Jerome says

    March 17, 2022 at 11:10 am

    Thank you very much!!
    The Powershell worked for me.

  47. Paolo says

    March 15, 2022 at 9:22 pm

    reset Windows Security app package. launching PowerShell: this work for me

  48. Ulises says

    March 14, 2022 at 11:05 am

    Worked!
    Run Power Shell with Admin privs, then just execute the following command:
    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

  49. Shaamil A says

    March 14, 2022 at 4:36 am

    Thank you for this post. ?i was able to fix the issue by executing Powershell option . It worked

  50. Kimi says

    March 11, 2022 at 7:36 pm

    Windows powershell worked like a charm! I could even find Windows Security in the list of apps now

  51. Cyrus Mody says

    March 9, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    The PowerShell command “Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage” worked like a charm. THANK YOU!

  52. Pieter Huizenga says

    March 6, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    Perfect solution to anannoying problem. Thanks.

  53. Martin Carpenter says

    March 6, 2022 at 10:28 am

    Well done!
    Brilliant advice, repaired my brand new Asus 516 after upgrading to Win 11.

  54. Sarah says

    March 2, 2022 at 9:22 pm

    Thank you so much!! Going to powershell (As Admin!) and using command

    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

    and then following the first steps of repairing the app made it come back perfectly!

  55. Yuuki Nakimura says

    March 2, 2022 at 7:37 am

    this saved all my time and trouble reinstalling windows.. i thought there is no way to recover it until i discovered this.. it instantly works and doesn’t need system reboot

  56. solomon mezmur says

    March 1, 2022 at 2:46 am

    Thank you!
    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage
    this command worked for me

  57. Raja says

    March 1, 2022 at 1:30 am

    Thank you very much, the power shell as admin worked instantly.
    I couldn’t do the first method as the security app was not showing in the apps and feature.
    Thanks again.

  58. Mark says

    February 26, 2022 at 7:40 am

    Windows Powershell command fixed the problem:

    Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -AllUsers | Reset-AppxPackage

  59. DTran says

    February 25, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    thank you for sharing your knowledge! I ran the powershell command and it fixed my issues.

  60. Tony says

    February 25, 2022 at 1:08 am

    I ran powershell as admin, then executed:

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    Worked a charm, thanks.

  61. Brandon Bos says

    February 24, 2022 at 11:48 am

    Windows 11 sucks I’m about to go to Linux I loved windows 7 and 10 but u guy s are making so hard for people
    Please fix windows Security

  62. Nawid says

    February 24, 2022 at 11:47 am

    Hello,
    I tried the CMD and PowerSehll commands but had no luck. I also do not see the Windows Security under Apps and Features.
    Any other solution you might think will resolve this?

    Thank you

  63. P says

    February 24, 2022 at 5:15 am

    Many thanks.
    The Powershell command solved the issue on my Dell XPS13.too.

  64. jack says

    February 22, 2022 at 3:19 am

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    this really works with Powershell as admin

    thank you so much

  65. John says

    February 21, 2022 at 9:28 pm

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    This worked great for me.

  66. micoric says

    February 20, 2022 at 7:01 am

    Wow… Thanks for this. Can’t open Windows Security after upgrading to Windows 11.

    Problem resolved after executing this syntax to Powershell

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

  67. Luiz Fernando says

    February 18, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    So I had the same problem since I upgrade from Windows 10 to 11, the problem is I have two users one is a normal user and another one as an Administrative user account, through the Administrative account I was able to access Windows Security, and then open the Windows Defender, what didn’t happen using the normal user, in the normal user it asks to install an App to open “windowsdefender”. so my conclusion is that Windows 11 limited Windows Security to be used only by Administrators’ accounts, but I was able to open PowerShell as Administrator and execute scans using Windows Defender through the command line.

  68. Gucci says

    February 18, 2022 at 11:34 am

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    this really works with powershell as admin

    This worked directly!! Thanks for this!!

  69. JohnA says

    February 18, 2022 at 4:22 am

    Thank you. PowerShell command work for me.

  70. felixalgenron says

    February 17, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    I have tried all methods mentioned above, and didn’t work. Except that I don’t want to re-install my windows system. I wish there is another way to fix it.

  71. Rob says

    February 17, 2022 at 4:45 am

    the PowerShell command run in admin worked for me thanks

  72. Zaphire says

    February 14, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    CHEJOGT ‘s scriot in his comment has actually worked for me for Windows 10
    where nothing else tried before didn’t work/
    Thank You!

  73. Jim says

    February 14, 2022 at 12:18 pm

    I have tried all and none work. New Computer/Windows 11 Home/ 21H2 (2/12/2022). What can I try now?

  74. CHEJOGT says

    February 10, 2022 at 12:55 am

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

    this really works with powershell as admin

  75. Evans Batung says

    February 9, 2022 at 9:53 am

    The second one worked for me. Thanks very much.

  76. Abby-Su Ruiz says

    January 27, 2022 at 7:54 am

    What if after the school scan I get
    Windows resource protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
    Then after the Dism I get the WOF driver encountered a corruption in the compressed file’s Resource table… 😭
    I’m running Windows 11

  77. Caeden Schwartz says

    January 24, 2022 at 9:29 pm

    Just want to say that for the “Run SFC and DISM” step, the command should be typed like this “Dism /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth” with spaces before each slash

  78. yasin says

    January 22, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    Thank you so mush for this helpful help

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