Adds Windows Defender exclusions for developers (Visual Studio, JetBrains Rider, IntellIJ Idea, Git, MsBuild, dotnet, mono etc.)

Windows Defender Exclusions for Developer.ps1

[cmdletbinding()]
Param()

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

$pathExclusions = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList
$processExclusions = New-Object System.Collections.ArrayList

$programFilesX86 = ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}
if ($null -eq $programFilesX86) {
    $programFilesX86 = $env:ProgramFiles
}
$programFiles = $env:ProgramFiles

function Add-ProcessExclusion($processName) {
    if (Test-Path $processName) {
        $fullProcessLocation = $processName
    } else {
        $command = Get-Command $processName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        if ($null -eq $command) {
            Write-Warning "Could not find command for process '$processName'."
            return
        }
        if ($command.CommandType -ne 'Application') {
            Write-Warning "Command '$processName' is not an application."
            return
        }
        $fullProcessLocation = $command.Source
    }
    if ($null -ne $fullProcessLocation) {
        $processExclusions.Add($fullProcessLocation) > $null
    } else {
        Write-Warning "Could not find path for process '$processName'."
    }
}

function Add-PathExclusion($path) {
    if (Test-Path $path) {
        $pathExclusions.Add($path) > $null
    } else {
        Write-Warning "Could not find path '$path'."
    }
}

# paths
Add-PathExclusion "$env:WINDIR\Microsoft.NET"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:WINDIR\assembly"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:WINDIR\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:WINDIR\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Temporary ASP.NET Files"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:ProgramData\Microsoft\VisualStudio\Packages"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:ProgramData\Docker"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFilesX86\MSBuild"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFilesX86\Microsoft Visual Studio"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFiles\Microsoft Visual Studio"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFilesX86\Microsoft Visual Studio"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFilesX86\Microsoft SDKs\NuGetPackages"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFilesX86\Microsoft SDKs"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFilesX86\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\MSEnv"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFiles\dotnet"
Add-PathExclusion "$programFiles\Microsoft SDKs"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:APPDATA\NuGet"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Docker"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\npm-cache"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WebsiteCache"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\dotnet"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VSApplicationInsights"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VSCommon"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\VisualStudio"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\36828agowa338.AlpineWSL_my43bytk1c4nr"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\46932SUSE.openSUSELeap42.2_022rs5jcyhyac"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:USERPROFILE\.dotnet"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:USERPROFILE\scoop"
Add-PathExclusion "$env:USERPROFILE\.nuget"

# my local paths, update to yours
Add-PathExclusion "c:\p"
Add-PathExclusion "c:\vms"

# processes
Add-ProcessExclusion "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "$programFiles\Docker\Docker\resources\dockerd.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "$programFiles\Docker\Docker\resources\bin\docker.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "$programFiles\Docker\Docker\Docker Desktop.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "dotnet.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "msbuild.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "node.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "perfwatson2.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "$programFiles\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\Enterprise\Common7\ServiceHub\Hosts\ServiceHub.Host.Node.x86\ServiceHub.Host.Node.x86.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "vbcscompiler.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "nuget.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "git.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "vshost-clr2.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "VSInitializer.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "VSLaunchBrowser.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "devenv.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.Host.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "MSTest.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "vshost.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "vshost32.exe"
Add-ProcessExclusion "vshost32-clr2.exe"

Write-Host "This script will create Windows Defender exclusions for common development folders and processes."

$currentPreferences = Get-MpPreference

foreach ($exclusion in $pathExclusions) {
    if ($currentPreferences.ExclusionPath -notcontains $exclusion) {
        Write-Host "Adding Path Exclusion: " $exclusion
        Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $exclusion
    } else {
        Write-Verbose "Path Exclusion already exists: $exclusion"
    }
}

foreach ($exclusion in $processExclusions) {
    if ($currentPreferences.ExclusionProcess -notcontains $exclusion) {
        Write-Host "Adding Process Exclusion: " $exclusion
        Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess $exclusion
    } else {
        Write-Verbose "Process Exclusion already exists: $exclusion"
    }
}

Write-Verbose "Exclusion status after update."
$updatedPrefs = Get-MpPreference
Write-Verbose "Paths:$($updatedPrefs.ExclusionPath | ForEach-Object { "`n$_" })"
Write-Verbose "Processes:$($updatedPrefs.ExclusionProcess | ForEach-Object { "`n$_" })"

Write-Verbose Done.