After installing/upgrading to Windows 11, you may notice that the Windows Defender Security settings page can’t be opened. Nothing may happen when you open the Windows Security dashboard, or the following error may occur when you do so:
You'll need a new app to open this windowsdefender link Look for an app in the Microsoft Store
Get an app to open this 'windowsdefender' link Your PC doesn't have an app that can open this link. Try looking for a compatible app in the Microsoft Store.
Also, none of the windowsdefender:// protocol links work. None of the options (“View security dashboard,” “Run a quick scan,” etc.) in the Windows Security tray menu work.
As a result, you’re unable to view the “Virus & threat protection,” “Account protection,” “Firewall & network protection,” and other Windows Defender settings GUI.
The above error happens if the Security Health UI app (SecHealthUI.exe) is broken. The issue can easily be fixed by resetting or reinstalling the Windows Security Health UI app package.
Resolution
Instructions for Windows 11
Option 1: Install the SecurityHealthSetup package
The above error indicates that the Windows Security app package is not installed on the computer.
- Download SecurityHealthSetup.exe (Version 1.0.2402.27001) from the Microsoft Update catalog and save it to the desktop.
- Right-click on the file and choose “Run as administrator”.
The above setup file installs latest Windows Security app along with its dependency packages. It also creates the latest security health platform folder.
Option 2: Repair the Windows Security app
Reinstalling the Microsoft.SecHealthUI package might fix the problem in some cases. To do so, run the following PowerShell command:
add-appxpackage -disabledevelopmentmode -register ((Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.SecHealthUI -allusers).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml')
(The app’s name is “Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI“in Windows 10 and “Microsoft.SecHealthUI“in Windows 11.)
Add-AppxPackage command: Possible Errors and Solutions
You may receive one of the following error messages when running the above command:
On some Windows 11 systems, the Add-AppxPackage command may throw the following error:
add-appxpackage : Cannot find path 'C:\AppxManifest.xml' because it does not exist.
If you receive the error Cannot find path ‘C:\AppxManifest.xml’, scroll down to the section (“Download the SecHealthUI Installer”) in this article, find the “Microsoft.SecHealthUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx” package and download it.
Add-AppxPackage error 0x80073CF3 – Dependency/framework missing!
If you receive the error 0x80073CF3 stating that the Xaml.2.4 framework is missing, install Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4 via Microsoft Store or scroll down to the section (“Download the SecHealthUI Installer”) in this article, find the “Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4_2.42007.9001.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe” package and download it.
Option 3: Reinstall “Windows Security” using the Installer file
If the Microsoft.SecHealthUI package is entirely missing, open the following folder:
C:\Windows\System32\SecurityHealth
In one of its subfolders, locate the file named “Microsoft.SecHealthUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx“.
Suppose the above Appx file is found. Double-click to install it. It launches the App installer screen. Follow the instructions and install the app.
Alternatively, you can use admin PowerShell to install the app if the installer doesn’t start when double-clicking on the file.
Right-click on “Microsoft.SecHealthUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx” and click “Copy as Path”.
Switch to the Admin PowerShell window, and run the following command:
Add-AppxPackage -Path <PASTE THE FILE PATH HERE>
Example:
Add-AppxPackage -Path "C:\Users\ramesh\Desktop\Microsoft.SecHealthUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx"
Download the SecHealthUI Installer
If the SecurityHealth folder is empty and you can’t find “Microsoft.SecHealthUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx” on your Windows 11 (22H2 and higher) computer, download it from the following link:
Windows Security App Version 1000.25992.9000.0
File : Microsoft.SecHealthUI_8wekyb3d8bbwe.appx
Running the “Get-AppxPackage *sechealth*” command in PowerShell should show the status of the Windows Security app:
Instructions for Windows 10
On Windows 10, the Windows Security app name is slightly different:
add-appxpackage -disabledevelopmentmode -register ((Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI -allusers).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml')
Caveat
The Security Health app package location is different in Windows 11. The paths for Windows 10 and 11 are given below:
[Windows 10 v21H2] C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI_cw5n1h2txyewy [Windows 11 v21H2] C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.SecHealthUI_1000.22000.251.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe (The above folder name would change according to your Windows 11 Build number.)
One common mistake users make is that they run the Add-Appxpackage command mentioning the explicit Windows 10 path on a Windows 11 computer. In that case, the following error occurs:
Add-AppxPackage : Cannot find path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.SecHealthUI_cw5n1h2txyewy\AppXManifest.xml' because it does not exist. At line:1 char:1 + Add-AppxPackage -Register -DisableDevelopmentMode "C:\Windows\SystemA ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : ObjectNotFound: (C:\Windows\Syst...ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], ItemNotFoundException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PathNotFound,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand
As a last resort, running a repair installation (a.k.a, in-place upgrade) by running setup.exe from the Windows 11 ISO should automatically rectify the Windows Security Dashboard.
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THIS is the correct solution to fix the issue of not having access to windows security. Thank you so much! Merci! Gracias!
Excellent!!
Problem solved because of the SecHealthUI.appx you provided, thank you so much!
Thank you so much! I was fed up with resetting the package using powershell scripts and some other solution, but manutally installing the appx package worked.
Finally a fully working solution, thank you!
OH MY GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!
I’ve tried so many things using PowerShell typing hundreds of different commands and using tons of different CMD commands and been heavily stressing out, i was about 10 minutes away from saying “fk this” and doing a factory reset, this bug only happened after getting windows 11 as it was fine in 10 but 11 broke it, I normally never comment on these things but you’re an absolute guardian angel, thank you soooo much for this, you’ve saved my sanity, there’s a special place in heaven for you my good sir.
You are just the article I needed. Thank you so much, for having written this. It’s literally the most hastle free solution.
Many thanks. You saved me after 3 hours of searching why Windows Defender app is not opening. Then I realized that Microsoft Store was also not present in Windows 11 after updates. I tried to install it but at the last command, I got error about Microsoft Xaml package, so I installed it and voila, Store is back.
Thank you for your work. Been searching and looking all day and no one else had the answer but you. Thanks again really appreciate it.
Thank you! A whole bunch of other posts only give reset options. On my machine the entire Appx package was gone somehow. This allowed me to reinstall it including the Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.4_2 package. Everything seems good now. Just wondering how the heck it broke.
OMGGG Thanks. At first I was weirded out by using the link for the download but once you open it confirms its a Microsoft product. None of the PowerShell solutions that I found on other blogs were working. Thanks for everything.
Helped a whole lot
Thank you so much for posting this! I was getting sooo frustrated!
Bro!!!! Thanks so much for this post! I watched many videos on youtube and read other threads but the Powershell thing wasn’t working until I found your page. My problem was fixed in the “Download the SecHealthUI Installer” section. Now it’s working and it doesn’t appear to be a scam so thanks!
Reinstalling the package helped me. Thanks a lot
You are the best!!! I’ve been working on this for hours. Thank you so much for the correct answer Ramesh
THIS IS LEGIT, THANK YOU! Going nuts trying to fix this after upgrading to 11.
App installation failed with error message: Deployment operation failed. (0x80070005)
I got this error while installing appx
Could anyone help please ?
how do i download the windows security app for windows 10 also
How to download the windows security app for windows 10 please…….
@JK: There is no separate download link for Windows Security app for 10. You can repair install Windows using the Media Creation Tool to fix Windows Security. What happens when you open Windows Security?
This is an extraordinarily good thing you’ve done for me today. I can’t thank you enough.
The most complete and competent instructions. Thank you. I just downloaded the application file from the link and installed it. Just a little bit of time and the defender opened! I tried different methods and all the commands in Powershell for three days and even reinstalled Windows, but Defender did not open.
This did not help me sadly. SecurityHealth folder was empty so I tried installing it and got this:
App installation failed with error message: error 0x800706D9: While processing the request, the system failed to register the windows.firewall extension due to the following error: There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper.
. (0x800706d9)
I feel like I have some bigger problem because nothing seems to work. I can’t even edit my permissions of registry because it says I don’t have permissions to view the permissions.
@J: Please fix the Windows Firewall.
See:
Windows Firewall Error 0x800706D9 “The snap-in failed to load” » Winhelponline:
https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/windows-firewall-error-0x6d9-no-endpoints/
Please update it from version 1000.25992.9000.0 to version 1000.26100.1.0