How to Turn off the SmartScreen/Phishing Filter in Internet Explorer

Use the 'Tools' menu to turn off the SmartScreen Filter or Phishing Filter in IE 8-11

What to Know

  • From the Internet Explorer menu bar, choose Tools.
  • Next, select Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter or SmartScreen Filter.
  • Select Turn off Windows Defender SmartScreen or Turn off SmartScreen Filter.

This article explains how to turn off the SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer (called Phishing Filter in IE7), which warns you if certain websites appear to be stealing your personal information.

Turn off the SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer 11, 10, 9, and 8

It takes just a few steps through IE's menu bar to get this done.

  1. From the Internet Explorer menu bar, choose Tools, then (depending on how your computer is set up) either Windows Defender SmartScreen Filter or SmartScreen Filter, and finally Turn off Windows Defender SmartScreen or Turn off SmartScreen Filter.

    Press Alt if you don't see the Tools menu at the top of Internet Explorer.

    Turn off the SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer
  2. In the new window that opens, called Microsoft Windows Defender SmartScreen or Microsoft SmartScreen Filter, select the Turn off Windows Defender SmartScreen or Turn off SmartScreen Filter option is selected.

    Windows Defender SmartScreen options
  3. Click or tap OK to save the changes.

    If you were troubleshooting a problem, repeat whatever steps caused your problem to see if disabling the SmartScreen Filter in Internet Explorer has corrected it.

Microsoft no longer supports Internet Explorer and recommends that you update to the newer Edge browser. Head to their site to download Edge.

More on Internet Explorer Phishing Filters

With the SmartScreen Filter, every download and website is checked against an ever-growing list of phishing and malware sites. If the filter finds something suspicious, it prompts you to exit the page or continue through to the unsafe website.

Downloads from reportedly harmful websites are also blocked when the SmartScreen Filter is enabled, so you can only download those kinds of files by disabling the SmartScreen Filter. Downloads that are accepted through the filter are those that have been downloaded by many people and are therefore considered safe, as well as files that have not yet been explicitly marked as dangerous.

You can check a specific website that you suspect is dangerous, through the same menu as above; just choose the Check this website option from that menu.

You can also test suspicious links yourself with link scanners and anti-malware tools.

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