Fixing Nexon Launcher Antivirus False Positives

Antivirus programs run in the background looking for malware. Occasionally, your antivirus might detect Nexon’s proprietary game security software NGS, or the Nexon Launcher itself, as an unidentified or malicious program. This is a false positive result, and you can stop it from happening by excluding and/or whitelisting either a single game or the entire Nexon Launcher library.

This article provides information about adding the Nexon Launcher as an exclusion in Windows Security and whitelisting it in Windows Defender Firewall.

• Excluding the Nexon Launcher from your antivirus program
  • Windows 11 and Windows 10
  • Windows 8
• Whitelisting the Nexon Launcher in Windows Defender Firewall
• Additional help

To see the steps for excluding a single game, watch our video on YouTube (see below).

Note: This article contains screenshots that are for example purposes only. Actual text and visuals may vary.

Excluding the Nexon Launcher from your antivirus program

Adding the Nexon Launcher as an exclusion can stop your antivirus from blocking or issuing false positive alerts about the Nexon Launcher. To do this for Windows Security, follow the procedures below. To exclude files and folders from a specific antivirus program, such as Norton or McAfee, review the help and support guides for that particular program.

Windows 11 and Windows 10

1. Click Start > Settings, and then select one of the following:
   • Privacy & security (Windows 11)
   • Update & Security (Windows 10)
     
     
2. Click Windows Security, and then select Virus & threat protection.
   
   
3. Under Virus & threat protection settings, select Manage settings.
   
   
   
4. Under Exclusions, located toward the bottom of the window, click Add or remove exclusions.
   
   
   
5. Click Add an exclusion, and then select either File or Folder.
   
   
   
6. Go to the Nexon Launcher default path or the local path to which you saved the files.
   Default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Nexon\Nexon Launcher
   
   Note: To find your game installation location from the Nexon Launcher, click the Game Settings icon    or open Launcher Settings, and then check the Game Install/Update tab.
   
   
   
7. Either find and select the nexon_launcher.exe file, or select the Nexon folder, and then click Open.
   The file/folder is now added to the exclusions list.
   
   
   
8. Restart your computer to help ensure the changes take effect.

You can now open the Nexon Launcher to verify that the issue is resolved. If not, try adding the Nexon Launcher app to the Windows Firewall, see Whitelisting the Nexon Launcher in Windows Defender Firewall.

Windows 8

1. Open the Windows Defender program.
   1. From the Start screen, click Search, and then type Windows Defender.
   2. Click Windows Defender from the search results.
      
      
      
2. Click the Settings tab, and then select Excluded files and locations.
   
   
   
3. Click Browse, and then go to the Nexon Launcher default path or the local path to which you saved the files.
   Default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Nexon\Nexon Launcher
   
   Note: To find your game installation location from the Nexon Launcher, click the Game Settings icon    or open Launcher Settings, and then check the Game Install/Update tab.
   
   
   
4. Either find and select the nexon_launcher.exe file, or select the Nexon folder, and then click OK.
   
   The file/folder is added to the File locations section.
   
   
5. Click Add to move the selected file/folder to the exclusions list.
   
   
   
6. Click Save changes.
   
   
   
7. Restart your computer to help ensure the changes take effect.

You can now open the Nexon Launcher to verify that the issue is resolved. If not, try adding the Nexon Launcher app to the Windows Firewall, see Whitelisting the Nexon Launcher in Windows Defender Firewall.

Whitelisting the Nexon Launcher in Windows Defender Firewall

Sometimes your firewall blocks trusted apps like the Nexon Launcher from accessing the internet. To fix this, you can manually whitelist apps through the firewall.

To do this for Windows Security, follow the procedures below. To change the settings for a specific security/firewall product, review the help and support guides for that particular product.

To whitelist the Nexon Launcher through firewall:

1. Open Windows Defender Firewall.
   • Windows 11
     • Click Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Windows Security > Firewall & network protection.
   • Windows 10
     • Click Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Firewall & network protection.
   • Windows 8
     • Press Windows key + X, and then click Control Panel > System and Security.
2. Open the Allowed Apps window.
   • Windows 11 and Windows 10
     • Click Allow an app through firewall.
       
       
       
   • Windows 8
     • Under Windows Firewall, click Allow an app through Windows Firewall.
       
       
       
3. Click Change Settings.
   
   
   
4. Find and select Nexon Launcher, and then select the type of network through which you want to allow communication (Private, Public, or both).
   
   Note: Selecting Private allows access to a home or office network and selecting Public allows access to publicly available networks, like at a coffee shop.
   
   
   If the Nexon Launcher is not listed, do the following:
   1. Click Allow another app.
      
      
      
   2. Click Browse, and then go to the Nexon Launcher default path or the local path to which you saved the files.
      Default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Nexon\Nexon Launcher
      
      
   3. Find and select nexon_launcher.exe, and then click Open.
      
      
      
   4. Click Add.
      
      
      
5. Click OK to save the changes.
6. Restart your computer to help ensure the changes take effect.

You can now open the Nexon Launcher to verify that the issue is resolved. If not, contact Customer Support, see Additional help.

Additional help

While your antivirus software provides real-time protection, regular system scans are vital to maintaining the health of your computer. One full scan every week is highly recommended.

If you continue to experience false positive errors after excluding the Nexon Launcher from your antivirus and whitelisting the Nexon Launcher in Windows Firewall, try repairing your game files, see Repairing Nexon Game Files. For further assistance, contact Customer Support.

Open a Technical Support ticket and include the following information:

• In Subject, enter Nexon Launcher Antivirus Issue.
• In Description, include the name of your antivirus program and a summary of the troubleshooting steps you've tried.
• In Attachments, add a screenshot of the error message you're receiving.