Guardian Support
What Guardian does
Guardian is a Windows-only, local-first security visibility and posture app. It runs read-only checks on your device, organizes the local evidence it observes, and explains your Windows security posture through scores, findings, review states, and suggested review steps.
Guardian can provide context about Microsoft Defender, Windows Security, Windows Firewall, SmartScreen, startup items, installed software, outbound activity, remote access, sharing posture, and other evidence covered by its local checks. It also creates reports and snapshots and stores those scan outputs locally for you to review.
What Guardian does not do
Guardian does not:
- Upload scan data or include cloud scanning.
- Sell personal data.
- Silently change Windows settings.
- Remove malware or other files.
- Block threats.
- Provide automatic remediation.
- Guarantee that your device is safe.
- Prove that your device is compromised.
- Replace Microsoft Defender, Windows Security, Windows Firewall, or SmartScreen.
- Replace professional incident response or IT/security support.
Guardian is read-only and does not remediate findings. You remain in control of any action you choose to take.
How to run a scan
- Open Guardian on your Windows device.
- Select Run Scan.
- Leave Guardian open while the local checks complete.
- Review the Home view for the posture summary, score, and score context.
- Open Findings to review observed items.
- Open Reports to review supporting local evidence and available snapshots.
If a scan stops unexpectedly, close and reopen Guardian, then try the scan again. Avoid shutting down, sleeping, or signing out of Windows while a scan is running.
How to find reports
Open the Reports area in Guardian to use the available report and snapshot actions.
Guardian stores its current runtime outputs locally in your Windows user profile at:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Guardian\SecurityVisibility\Logs
If a report button does not open a file, run a new scan and try again. You can also enter the path above in File Explorer. Confirm that you are signed in to the same Windows user account that ran the scan.
Reports, snapshots, logs, and screenshots may contain sensitive local evidence. Review them before sharing them.
Understanding review states
- Normal: Guardian did not see concerning evidence in the local checks it ran. Normal does not guarantee that the device is safe.
- Needs Review: Confirm whether the observed item or activity is expected. This state asks for your review; it does not mean Guardian has proved that the device is compromised.
- Expected: You recorded locally that you recognize the item. Guardian continues checking it. Expected does not prove that the item is safe, hide it from Guardian, or change Windows settings.
Common troubleshooting
Guardian does not open
- Restart Windows and try again.
- Make sure Windows is up to date.
- If Guardian was recently installed or updated, reinstall it from the same trusted source.
- Read any Windows security warning carefully. Do not disable Windows security protections to force Guardian to run.
A scan does not complete
- Close Guardian, reopen it, and run the scan again.
- Restart Windows if the scan continues to stop unexpectedly.
- Note where the scan stopped and any error message shown.
A report or snapshot is missing
- Run a new scan and wait for it to complete.
- Check the local output folder shown above for recently created files.
- Confirm that you are using the same Windows account that ran the scan.
- Reports or snapshots that you previously deleted may no longer be available.
Windows security tools show a warning
- Treat the warning seriously and confirm that Guardian came from your intended trusted source.
- Review the exact message from Windows Security, Microsoft Defender, SmartScreen, or another security tool.
- Do not disable Microsoft Defender, Windows Security, Windows Firewall, SmartScreen, Tamper Protection, or another protection to bypass the warning.
- If you are unsure, keep the protection enabled and contact support privately with the warning details.
Requesting support
Email [email protected].
When requesting support, include:
- Your Windows version.
- Your Guardian version, if available.
- What you were doing when the issue occurred.
- What you expected to happen.
- What actually happened.
- The exact error message, if one appeared.
- Whether the issue continues after restarting Windows.
Do not post sensitive logs, reports, snapshots, screenshots, personal information, account details, device names, file paths, security findings, IP addresses, or network endpoints publicly. If information is needed to investigate an issue, review it first, remove or obscure unrelated sensitive details, share only the minimum needed, and use a private support channel.
If you believe your device is actively compromised, your personal information is at risk, or you need urgent help, use the protections available through Windows and contact a qualified IT or security professional. Guardian does not provide emergency incident response.