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Windows protected your PC — how do I get past SmartScreen on the installer?

3 answers

• 16votes✓

  Accepted answer

  And to the second question, which is the better one: the installers are not signed yet, so SmartScreen has no publisher identity to have an opinion about. It is telling you it does not recognise the file, not that it found something in it.

  If you want to check the download rather than trust a dialog, every release ships SHA256SUMS.txt; compare the hash of the file you have against it.

  Signing is a real cost rather than an oversight — a certificate, a validated identity, and since 2023 a hardware or cloud HSM holding the key, which is what makes signing in CI awkward. It is also the thing blocking the winget submission, so it is not being ignored.

  DOanswered by Daniel Oyelaranmaintainer24,177 · 15 Jul 2026
• 12votes

  The continue option is hidden behind the "More info" link on that dialog. Click it and a "Run anyway" button appears. That is the whole trick, and it catches everyone the first time because the visible buttons do not suggest there is another path.

  SOanswered by Sam Orbison9,420 · 15 Jul 2026
• 7votes

  One correction to something you will find in older guides while searching this: an EV certificate no longer skips SmartScreen on day one. It used to, which is why so much advice recommends paying the EV premium for a new app, but Microsoft removed that behaviour in 2024. EV-signed files now build reputation the same way OV-signed ones do.

  So even once these are signed, expect the warning to fade rather than vanish, and expect it to reset if the signing identity ever changes.

  HWanswered by Hsu Wei-lin15,230 · 17 Jul 2026