Microsoft Defender is slowing down VLC startup: here's the fix

After Defender signature update 1.455.50.0 and Windows patch KB5121003, Microsoft's antivirus quarantines VLC's plugin cache (plugins.dat), making the player take several seconds to launch. Microsoft has not released an official fix; resetting the cache via vlc-cache-gen.exe or excluding the plugins folder restores normal startup.

• Cause is quarantine of plugins.dat after Defender update 1.455.50.0
• Issue linked to Windows patch KB5121003 from August 11
• Resetting the cache with vlc-cache-gen.exe restores one-second startup
• Microsoft has not yet released an official fix