Run a Windows Defender scan via command line

Windows Defender Antivirus has a command line utility.

"C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe" -scan -scantype 1

Scan types:

1 quick scan
2 full scan
3 custom file/directory scan (must specify a path via the -File parameter)

Other interesting parameters:

-? lists all of the available options.

PowerShell also makes available the following equivalent cmdlets (among others):

The two scanning cmdlets can also be run as jobs by passing the -AsJob switch.