How to Turn Off or Disable Avast Temporarily
We’ll also explain why you may want to
Avast’s Free Antivirus, Premium Security, and Ultimate utilities use multiple live shields to safeguard your PC and Mac against malicious threats in real-time. But despite the enhanced protection you receive, having them running continuously in the background can lead to various software-related issues. The fastest way to fix that is by deactivating Avast temporarily.
We’ll step you through why and how you must turn off Avast on your computer and how to locate and disable specific Avast shields so you don’t end up putting your computer at risk.
Reasons to Turn Off Avast Temporarily
Deactivating Avast puts your PC or Mac at risk from various forms of malware such as trojans, worms, and keyloggers. Only do that if you run into one or more of the following scenarios.
Anti-malware utilities are notorious for inaccurately flagging legitimate activity. So if you have trouble performing a specific task (say, you can’t open a program or download a file), temporarily turning off Avast helps rule that out as the likely reason.
Of course, you can always re-activate Avast after adding the program, website, file, etc., to the anti-malware utility’s list of exceptions.
Like most antivirus programs, Avast consumes system resources to keep your PC or Mac secure, which can adversely impact the performance of resource-intensive tasks such as video games.
If your computer feels slow or sluggish, turning off Avast for the duration of activity might make a difference.
Avast tends to display lots of pop-up alerts. While it does help you stay up-to-date about malicious threats on your computer, you may also receive unnecessary notifications about product features and upgrade offers.
To Avast’s credit, it does come with a feature called Silent Mode that helps yousilence all notifications on your computer. However, briefly disabling Avast should keep you focused on the task at hand if Silent Mode doesn’t work.
How to Turn Off Avast Temporarily (Windows)
On the PC, you can conveniently turn off Avast whenever you want. Simply start by locating theAvasticon on the Windows system tray (located at the bottom-right of the screen). Then, right-click it and point at the option labeledAvast shields control. Follow that by picking one of the following options:
The first three options allow you to disable Avast temporarily. For example, selectingDisable for 10 minutesshould automatically restart Avast after 10 minutes.
TheDisable permanentlyoption also turns off Avast temporarily, and you can reactivate the anti-malware utility manually. To do that, right-click or select theAvasticon again, point toAvast shields control, and select theEnable all shieldsoption.
How to Turn Off Avast Shields Temporarily (Windows)
Avast comes with several live shields that proactively scan your computer for threats. But instead of deactivating the anti-malware utility completely, you can choose to turn off each shield separately. That allows you to deal with specific issues while still keeping most areas of your PC protected. For example, turning off the Web Shield can help fix browser-related problems.
To disable individual Avast shields, start by right-clicking theAvasticon on the system tray. Then, select theOpen Avast user interfaceoption. You can then locate and turn off Avast shields under theProtectionandPrivacyside-tabs.
Avast should then offer you the option to disable them for 10 minutes, an hour, until you next restart your computer, or indefinitely.
Located underProtection>Core Shields,Field Shield automatically scans new files for threats. Disable it if Avast generates lots of false positives or causes performance issues.
Located underProtection>Core Shields,Behavior Shield Warns you of suspicious applications. Disable it if applications keep failing to load.
Located underProtection>Core Shields, Web Shield blocks suspicious websites and downloads. Turn it off if you have trouble accessing websites or performing downloads.
Located underProtection>Core Shields, Mail Shield protects you from suspicious email attachments. Deactivate it if you have trouble accessing your email.
Located underProtection>Ransomware Shield. Protects you against ransomware. Disable it if you encounter performance issues.
Located underProtection>Remote Access Shield. It prevents hackers from remotely connecting to your computer. Disable it if you have trouble using the Remote Desktop feature in Windows.
Located underProtection>Real Site. Prevents DNS (Domain Name System) hijacking. Disable it if you have trouble modifying your computer’s DNS settings.
Located underProtection>Firewall. Protects you from malicious inbound and outbound connections. Disable it if programs have trouble connecting to the internet.
Located underPrivacy>Real Site. It prevents malicious applications from accessing your passwords. Disable it if you have trouble accessing, modifying, or deleting passwords.
Located underPrivacy>Webcam Shield. Prevents webcam hijacking. Disable it if your webcam fails to work with supported programs.
Located underPrivacy>Webcam Shield, Sensitive Data Shield protects documents with sensitive info such as banking information, passwords, and identification info. Disable it if you have trouble accessing or editing files.
How to Turn Off Avast Temporarily (Mac)
On the Mac, you don’t have access to a one-click option that you can use to disable Avast temporarily. Instead, you must disable its shields manually. Disabling all shields essentially ends up deactivating Avast.
Select theAvasticon on Mac’s menu bar and selectOpen Avast Security to disable Avast’s shields.
You can then locate and turn off individual Avast shields by visiting theCore ShieldsandRansomware Shieldsections.
Located underCore Shields. Automatically checks new files and folders for malware. Disable it if Avast flags multiple files incorrectly or causes performance issues on your Mac.
Located underCore Shields, web shield blocks malicious websites and downloads. Disable it if Safari or your preferred third-party browser fails to work correctly.
Located underCore Shields, email shield offers security against suspicious email attachments. Disable it if you have trouble with the Mail app or other third-party email clients.
Located underRansomware Shield,it secures your Mac against ransomware. Deactivate it if Avast keeps adversely impacting your Mac’s performance.
Fed Up With Avast? Get Rid Of It
When you turn off Avast, it won’t prevent you from manually scanning your PC or Mac for malware, so you still have some level of security. Just don’t keep it turned off for extended periods.
However, you can always choose touninstall Avast from your PCor Mac completely if you feel that it isn’t for you. If you do, here are alternative anti-malware utilities for the PC and Mac that you should check out.
Dilum Senevirathne is a freelance tech writer and blogger with three years of experience writing for online technology publications. He specializes in topics related to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Google web apps. When he isn’t hammering away at his Magic Keyboard, you can catch him binge-watching productivity hacks on YouTube.Read Dilum’s Full Bio
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