Exclude Grunt from Windows Defender

Sometimes Grunt can be prevented from either installation, execution, or both by Windows Defender or similar programs.

When installed, Microsoft PowerPoint will execute code distributed through Grunt’s files (specifically, dll-files). Such files may sometimes be prevented from either installation, execution, or both by Windows Defender or similar programs. This is often due to security policies enforced by IT security.

For Grunt to function properly, it is sometimes necessary to create Exclusions in Windows Defender. Specifically, if you have policies that prevent dll-files from running or exe-files from executing when installed in the user’s Programs folder, this can prevent normal functioning of Grunt.

To resolve such issues, we recommend adding the following Exclusions to Windows Defender:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Grunt\Altua.Grunt.PowerPoint.dll
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Grunt\Updates\bin\Altua.Grunt.PowerPoint.Runner.exe
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Grunt\Updates\bin\Altua.Grunt.PowerPoint.Updater.exe
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Grunt\Updates\bin\Altua.Grunt.PowerPoint.Restarter.exe

Exclusions can be found under Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Virus & threat protection settings → Manage settings → Add or remove exclusions → Add an exclusion → File