How do I prevent my Antivirus software from slowing down my developer workstation?

All answers to this question.

This is a classic conflict. Real-time scanning looks at every small file write, and node_modules has thousands of them. You should exclude your project directories and the local package manager cache from "Real-Time Scanning," but keep "Scheduled Scanning" active for those folders. Also, exclude the process names for your IDE and Build Tools (like node.exe or java.exe). This way, the AV isn't intercepting every internal process call. Most modern enterprise AVs have a "Developer Mode" or a way to lower the priority of the scanning engine so it doesn't starve the compiler of CPU cycles during a heavy build.

   Answered 2025-02-05 by Deborah Lewis

Have you checked if your AV is also performing "Script Scanning" or "AMSI" inspection, which can significantly lag down shell environments like PowerShell or Bash?

   Answered 2025-02-20 by Michael Scott

• I checked, Michael, and AMSI was the main culprit! It was trying to inspect every script execution in my CI/CD pipeline. I worked with the IT team to create a specific policy for my machine that keeps script scanning on for downloads but ignores our internal build scripts. My compile times have dropped from five minutes back down to ninety seconds. It's a massive productivity win.

     Commented 2025-03-05 by Steven Clark

Using a fast NVMe drive helps, but it won't fix a bad AV configuration. Exclusions are the only real way to regain your developer speed.

   Answered 2025-03-15 by Christopher Brown

• Exactly, Christopher. Even with a top-tier SSD, the bottleneck is the CPU overhead of the AV engine checking every single .js file during a build.

     Commented 2025-03-22 by Megan Foster