Windows Defender hangs during "Applying your actions..." process

Hi,

Thank you for posting the query on Microsoft Community Forums. You have reached the right place. Let us work together to find the root cause of this issue and try resolving it.

Windows defender scan may freeze due to the bad sectors on the hard drive

You can try the following steps and see if it helps.

Method 1: You may also run System File Checker [SFC] scan on the computer which will replace the missing or corrupt files & check if the issue persists.

For further information, you can refer to the following link.

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files

Method 2: Run Check disk to fix any bad sectors on the hard drive.

a. Click on start and in the start search bar type cmd, right click on the command prompt icon in the programs area and then click on run as administrator.

b. At the command prompt type chkdsk /f and then press enter.

Now, type in chkdsk /r

Note: CHKDSK would try to recover bad sectors on the hard disk, during this process there are chances of DATA loss from that particular sector.

 Hope this information is helpful.

I know this is a late response but I am having the same problem and just came across this post.  I'm irritated enough by the Microsoft rep's reply to create an account to reply to Vinjay.

Really Vinjay B, REALLY??  Did you read the OP's question at all?  The problem is not a freeze during a scan, it is freezing after the scan has completed and removal procedures have been started.  That was plainly and explicitly explained in the OP's initial request for help.  Way to go Microsoft [lack of] support...

I'm having the same problem on a customer's computer, but it doesn't look like I can expect any sort of help here.

I know this is a late response but I am having the same problem and just came across this post.  I'm irritated enough by the Microsoft rep's reply to create an account to reply to Vinjay.

Really Vinjay B, REALLY??  Did you read the OP's question at all?  The problem is not a freeze during a scan, it is freezing after the scan has completed and removal procedures have been started.  That was plainly and explicitly explained in the OP's initial request for help.  Way to go Microsoft [lack of] support...

I'm having the same problem on a customer's computer, but it doesn't look like I can expect any sort of help here.

Hey Tyler, I am having this problem right now as well, "stuck while applying actions"! Was just wondering if you managed to solve it somehow. If I manage to solve this without reinstalling Windows, I will never again do a scan with Defender! 

Thanks in advance. 

I'd like to help, if I remember correctly the files were in the users "AppData" folder.  I deleted the entire folder as there was no useful data there (it was a customer's backed up data that I was scanning).  If you're issue is in the same place and belongs to an active user account on the system I would obviously advise AGAINST that solution.  It appears some people solved the issue by letting windows defender "apply" the actions for several hours, you could try letting it sit overnight.

Tyler