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How to Disable the “These Files Might Be Harmful to Your Computer” Warning
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 can 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.
- Press Win + R to open Run.
- Type control and click OK to open the Control Panel.
- In the Control Panel, go to Network and Internet > Internet Options.
- In the Internet Properties dialog, open the Security tab.
- Next, select the Local intranet option and then click on the Sites button for Local intranet.
- In the new window, click on the Advanced button.
- In the Add this website to the zone field, you need to add your mapped IP address and click Add.
- Click Close and OK to save the changes.
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.
How to Access the Group Policy Editor in Windows Home
Enable the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows Home 10 and 11 without upgrading to Windows Pro.
Press Win + R to open Run, type gpedit.msc, and click OK to open Group Policy Editor. In the GPEdit app, navigate to the following location:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer > Internet Control Panel > Security Page
Double-click to open the Internet Zone Template policy and set it to Enabled. Then, click the drop-down menu under Options and choose Low. Click OK and Apply to save the changes.
Next, double-click to open the Site to Zone Assignment List policy. Set it to Enabled. Then, under Options, select the Show button. Add the Server name, URL, or IP Addresses to add them to an allowlist and set the value to 1. Click OK, then click Apply and OK to 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.