How to Disable the “These Files Might Be Harmful to Your Computer” Warning
Jerome Thomas / MakeUseOf /
Jerome Thomas / MakeUseOf
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Windows Security monitors files added to your PC, especially those from the internet. If a file seems harmful, you’ll see a warning “These files might be harmful to your computer”. While you may bypass it, frequent prompts can be annoying. Luckily, you can disable them easily.
Why Does Windows Show the “These Files Might Be Harmful to Your Computer” Warning?
You may see this warning when transferring files from another computer on your home network or moving files between drives on the same PC.
This may not be an issue if you are dealing with a few files occasionally. However, if you are trying to move tons of files from one drive to another, accepting the warning for all the files can become annoying.
The fix depends on the situation. For network drives, adding your DNS address to the Intranet Zone can disable the warning. For local drive transfers, you’ll need to try different solutions to see what works best.
Add Your IP Address to the Intranet Zone
If you encounter this security alert when accessing files from your local network PCs or a Network Attached Storage (NAS), you can add the IP address or DNS names associated with the devices to the local intranet zone.
When you add your mapped IP address to the Local internet zone, Windows will treat connections from this network as trusted and stop showing the security warnings.
Turn Off the Warning Using Group Policy Editor
You can also disable this warning through the Group Policy Editor (GPEdit), a direct way to manage security settings. However, GPEdit is only available by default on Windows Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.
Enable the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows Home 10 and 11 without upgrading to Windows Pro.
PressWin + Rto openRun, typegpedit.msc, and clickOKto open Group Policy Editor. In the GPEdit app, navigate to the following location:
Double-click to open theInternet Zone Templatepolicy and set it toEnabled. Then, click the drop-down menu underOptionsand chooseLow. ClickOKandApplyto save the changes.
Next, double-click to open theSite to Zone Assignment Listpolicy. Set it toEnabled. Then, underOptions, select theShowbutton. Add the Server name, URL, or IP Addresses to add them to an allowlist and set the value to1. ClickOK, then clickApplyandOKto save the changes.
The solution to stopping this security alert depends on whether you’re moving files from a network drive or locally. You can temporarily disable UAC settings to bypass the warning or, on older Windows 11 versions, remove Internet Explorer to resolve the issue.
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