Windows Security shows Actions Needed when there is no fault

I am using a number of systems running Windows 10 LTSC 2019. I recently removed McAfee Virus Scan Enterprise (VSE) from these systems after they stopped receiving antivirus updates (product is end of life).

The Windows Security icon in the system tray started showing "Actions Needed" (white X on a red background) when the AV updates stopped coming through.

I have since replaced McAfee VSE with a new malware protection tool that does not interact with Windows Security, that is it does not show up under Virus & Threat Protection in Windows Security like McAfee VSE used to.

The Windows Security icon still showed "Actions Needed" after replacing the antivirus, saying "Engine Unavailable" under the Virus & Threat Protection option.

I then disabled Windows Defender (it is not able to run in my environment and McAfee VSE automatically suppressed it previously).

Windows Security's dashboard now says that there is nothing required and it gives me all green indications on the dashboard, but the icon in the system tray still shows as "Actions Needed".

I don't get this fault on the computers that had Windows Defender disabled during the initial setup process, so it appears to be related to Windows Defender trying to operate when it does not have access to engine or threat database updates.

Is there a way to reset the Windows Security tray icon to reflect the current state of the Windows Security dashboard, or do I have to just disable it from the system tray?

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Kirk -MSFT

Hi,

Thanks for your post in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you have encountered the problem that Windows defender keeps prompting that you need to operate, but after opening it, there is actually no content that needs to be operated.

You can press Win+R to enter and run services.msc to open the service management interface.

Find

Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service

Microsoft Defender Antivirus Service

Windows Defender Firewall

Windows Security Center Service

These four services and see if they are running, try shutting down and restarting these services to see if that resolves the issue.

Please feel free to let me know how it goes.

Kirk | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Windows Security shows Actions Needed when there is no fault

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