Microsoft Security Essentials end of support: What to do?

3 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

Share this article

Improve this guide

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Those of you that are running Microsoft Windows 7 on their PCs are probably aware that support for it has ended. The biggest change that comes with this is thatWindows 7will no longer receive any security updates.

More precisely,Microsoft Security Essentialswill no longer be supported. As such,Windows 7Home users that relied on it for protection will have to find a good alternative for it if they want to continue having protection.

The most obvious course of action would be to simply upgrade toWindows 10and benefit from its extraordinary security features. However, some users want to remain withWindows 7.

Organizations can even opt to buy theWindows 7Extended Support, although this too is nothing more but postponing the inevitable for another 2 years.

In the Extended Security Updates’FAQ page, Microsoft mentioned that it won’t provide MicrosoftSecurity Essentialsupdates anymore after support forWindows 7is terminated.

Will MicrosoftSecurity Essentials(MSE) continue to protect my computer after the end of support?No, yourWindows 7computer is not protected by MSE after January 14, 2020. MSE is unique toWindows 7and follows the same lifecycle dates for support.

What to do after the MSE end of support?

If upgrading toWindows 10is out of the question, then your only viable solution is to get a third-partyantivirustool and be extra careful with your browsing habits.

The good news is thatWindows 7still has quite a considerable market share, and because of this all majorantivirusprograms still support it, at least for the time being.

This being said here are some of the best Antivirus programs that you can get forWindows 7:

For more details on theseantivirusprograms and how they work, check out thisdetailed guide.

Despite once being considered one of thebest antivirus programs in the world, times change and even MicrosoftSecurity Essentialshas to give up the throne at some point.

So, if you value your digital safety, you have three choices:

Did you find this article useful? Let us know in the comment section below.

Microsoft Security Essentials end of support: What to do?#

What to do after the MSE end of support?#

Microsoft Security Essentials end of support: What to do?

What to do after the MSE end of support?