How to Hide or Display Windows Security App Device Security Section in Windows 11

This article describes steps one can take to hide or show the Windows Security app Device security section in Windows 11.

The Windows Security app is a built-in application that comes with Windows 11. It provides a centralized dashboard to see what’s happening with the security and health of your device and take any actions needed.

The app has many sections that allow you to quickly see the status of your virus and threat protection, firewall and network security, Account protection, App and Browser Control, and more.

The Device Security section provides the settings to help protect your device from malicious software attacks. For supported devices, they will also see Core isolation, Secure boot, and Data encryption in this section.

If have configured your device’s security settings to suit your environment and you don’t want others to change or mess with these settings, you can hide these sections from users.

On the other hand, if these sections are hidden and you want to show them again, you can use the guide below.

How to hide or show the Device security section with Windows Security app in Windows 11

As described above, the App & browser control section provides the settings for Microsoft Defender SmartScreen, which helps protect your device from potentially dangerous apps, files, websites, and downloads.

First, open Local Group Policy Editor by clicking on the Start Menu and searching for Edit group policy as highlighted below.

Under Best match, select Edit group policy to launch Local Group Policy Editor.

windows 11 edit group policy
windows 11 edit group policy

In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, expand the tree: 

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Security > Device security

In the Device security details pane on the right, locate and double-click the setting that says “Hide the Device security area“.

windows 11 gpo hide the device security area
windows 11 gpo hide the device security area

On the Hide the Device security area window set the option to Not ConfigureEnabled, or Disabled.

  • Not Configured (default)
  • Enabled  – The Device security area will be hidden.
  • Disabled – The Device security area will be shown.
windows 11 gpo hide the device security area options
windows 11 gpo hide the device security area options

Display or hide the Device security section in Windows Security via Windows Registry

If you can’t open the Local Group Policy Editor, you can use the Windows Registry instead.

Open the Windows Registry, and navigate to the folder key path as listed below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender Security Center\Device security

If you don’t see the Windows Defender Security Center -> Device security folder key, simply right-click on the Windows key, then create both key folders.

windows 11 registry device security key
Windows 11 registry device security key

On the right pane of the Device security folder key, right-click and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type a new key named UILockdown.

Double-click the new key and enter the Value data as 0 to show the Device security section in Windows Security app.

A Value data of 1 will hide the Device security section in the Windows Security app.

windows 11 registry device security uilockdown value
Windows 11 registry device security uilockdown value

Restart your computer and the Device security section will be hidden or will be displayed.

windows 11 windows security app without device security
windows 11 windows security app without device security

That should do it!

Reference:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/device-protection-in-windows-security-afa11526-de57-b1c5-599f-3a4c6a61c5e2

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to show or hide the Device security section in Windows Security app in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.