(Answer requested by Chris Whitten)
There are several very easy ways to scan single files for malware.
Easiest of all: You usually can simply right-click on any file, and when the menu opens, select Scan with… whatever your installed anti-malware tool is.
For example, in a normal, default Windows 10 setup, you’d right click and then select Scan with Windows Defender. (See Fig. 1)
In a normal, default Windows 7 setup, you’d click on Scan with Microsoft Security Essentials.
And so on; most third-party anti-malware apps also offer right-click scan-on-demand options.
If you prefer, you also can use any of several available online file-scanning services.
Perhaps the best-known and best-regarded is VirusTotal; a free service of Alphabet/Google that lets you upload any file to have it instantly scanned by some 60 separate, independent, anti-malware engines (see list) from all the major security-app vendors.
As you can see, scanning single files is extremely easy — and you may already have the tools right at your fingertips!
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This is inaccurate. Defender on Win10 just sends you to a dialog to perform a complete scan. Just more horrible bad faith! The lack of ability to scan a single file on demand is singular proof that Defender is giving users false sense of security and is a PUP.
Look, if you don’t like it, don’t use it.
But of course you don’t have to scan everything, every time:
Plus, independent third-party tests rank Defender among the best: https://www.av-test.org/en/
It’s fine to say “I don’t like Product X,” but don’t confuse that subjective feeling with “Product X is no good.”
Michael Geist is right, windows defender is bullcrap, it does not allow you to scan single files only if they are in a separate folder