This article explains how to turn Dev Drive Protection On or Off in Windows 11.
Dev Drive is a new form of storage volume that is available to improve performance for key developer workloads. It is built on ReFS technology to employ targeted file system optimizations and provide more control over storage volume settings and security.
By default, Dev Drive is created for the best performance and automatically grants trust in the new volume to support antivirus configuration and administrative control over what filters are attached.
There are two performance modes one can use with Dev Drive. The following table summarizes performance mode synchronous and asynchronous scan behavior.
PERFORMANCE MODE STATE | SCAN TYPE | DESCRIPTION | SUMMARY |
---|---|---|---|
Not enabled (Off) | Synchronous (Real-time protection) | Opening a file initiates a Real-time protection scan. | Open now, scan now. |
Enabled (On) | Asynchronous | File open operations are scanned asynchronously. | Open now, scan later. |
For more on Dev Drive performance and considerations, read the post below.
Protecting Dev Drive performance mode.
Starting with Windows 11 build 25931, you can turn the performance mode for Dev Drive protection on or off in the Windows Security app.
Enable or disable Dev Drive Protection in Windows
As mentioned above, starting with the latest Windows 11 Dev Builds, users can turn the Dev Drive protection on or off using the Windows Security app.
Here’s how to do that.
First, open the Windows Security app.
You can do that by clicking on the Start menu and searching for “Windows Security.” Then, under Best match, click on the Windows Security app.

In the Windows Security app, on the “Security at a glance page,” click the Virus & threat protection link on the left menu or the main window pane.

On the Virus & threat protection
settings page, click the Manage settings link.

On the Virtus & threat protection settings page, under Dev Drive protection, toggle the switch to the On position to enable.
To disable it, toggle the switch to the Off position.
If you don’t have Real-time protection turned on, Dev Drive protection will be grayed out.

Save your changes and exit the Windows Security app.
Enable or disable Dev Drive protection using the Registry Editor
Using the Registry Editor is another way to turn on or off Dev Drive protection.
To do that, open the Windows Registry editor and navigate to the folder key below.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection
If you don’t see the Real-Time Protection
folder key, right-click on the Windows Defender
parent key, then create the subkey (Real-Time Protection) folder.

Right-click the Edge folder key’s right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type a new item named DisableAsyncScanOnOpen.
Double-click the new item you created (DisableAsyncScanOnOpen) and update the Value data:
- To turn on Dev Drive protection, type 0.
- To turn off Dev Drive protection, type 1.
That should do it!
Reference:
Conclusion:
- In conclusion, this article provided detailed information on how to turn on or off Dev Drive Protection in Windows 11, offering two methods.
- Users were guided through enabling or disabling Dev Drive Protection using the Windows Security app, accompanied by clear and informative visual aids.
- Additionally, the article outlined an alternative method for managing Dev Drive Protection through the Registry Editor, catering to users’ preferences and needs.
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