- How Do I Turn Off Avast Temporarily
- How Do I Turn Off Avast Cleanup Pro For Mac
- How Do I Turn Off Avast Secure Browser
- Avast
- How Do I Turn Off Avast Antivirus
Once in a while, you’ll probably need to turn off your Avast Antivirus, or just pause some of its shields. Usually, because you want to install some other party security software like a firewall, or because Avast is blocking your favorite website or application.
OUR TIP If you want to disable Avast because it’s blocking program or website you trust, we suggest using the Avast Exceptions/White-list instead.Here’s the quick step-by-step guide on how to turn off/disable Avast 2019 – completely or temporarily. Steps are applicable to all Avast antivirus products (Free Antivirus, Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, or Avast Premier).
Quick Summary
Avast Support: Avast! 7.x - Testing Whether Avast! 7.x Is Protecting Your Computer Against a Malware About the Author Kirk Bennet started writing for websites and online publications in 2005. Follow the steps below to cancel the automatic renewal service enabled for your Avast product. For instructions to disable the automatic renewal of your Avast software subscription, refer to one of the following articles according to the distributor that processed your order. Easily Uninstall Avast Free Mac Security 2016 (Recommended) Wish to get rid of Avast Mac Security within a few clicks? Among numerous tools that support to uninstall applications on macOS, Osx Uninstaller stands out as a professional, reliable and handy utility.
- Right-click on the Avast orange icon in the Windows system tray
- Select Avast shields control and select for how long you want to disable it
- Confirm by clicking Yes on the dialog
Read more detailed steps and other options including screenshots below
1. Turn Off/Disable Avast Completely (All Shields)
Turning off all Avast shields basically means completely turning off the whole Avast Antivirus active protection. So be sure you know what you’re doing, although it’s actually quite simple.
Step #1 – Just navigate to the Windows taskbar and find the orange Avast icon. By default it is hidden in some Windows systems, so click on the top arrow if you don’t see it. Once you find the icon, perform a right-click on it, look for the option ‘Avast shields control‘, and select one of the options there – disable for a) 10 minutes; b) 1 hour; c) until computer restart; d) permanently.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Completely via Windows System Tray
Step #2 – Whatever option you will choose, Avast will ask you for a confirmation, which you have to confirm by selecting ‘Yes‘. And that’s it, Avast and all its shields should be disabled/paused for whatever time period you have selected.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Completely – Action Confirmation
Step #3 – If you want to make sure Avast is really disabled, just open its main window. It should be red and saying ‘All antivirus shields are off‘. To re-enable it again, click on the green button ‘RESOLVE‘, and it should turn green with the message ‘You’re protected‘.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Completely – User Interface
2. Turn Off/Disable Avast Temporarily (Specific Shield(s))
Besides turning off all shields at once, Avast also offers an option to temporarily turn off/pause any specific shield. Again, be sure you know what and why you’re doing it.
Step #1 – If so, then open the main Avast user interface, and go to Protection » Core Shields. Alternatively, you can go to Settings (in the bottom left corner in the main Avast interface) » ‘Components’ (or ‘Active Protection‘ in the older version). There you will see all Avast shields (File System Shield, Behavior Shield, Mail Shield, Web Shield) listed.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Specific Shields – Shields Overview
Just find the one you want to disable and click on the switcher. Once you click on it, you will see four options – stop the shield for a) 10 minutes; b) 1 hour; c) until computer restart; d) permanently. Just select the period you want and click on it.
Step #2 – If the shield has been successfully disabled, you should see the switch change to ‘OFF‘ and the main window should be yellow with the message ‘File Shield is now off‘. To re-enable it again, simply click on the green ‘Turn on‘ button, and it should turn green with the message ‘You’re protected‘.
Avast Antivirus 2019 File Shield Turned Off
3. Uninstall Avast Antivirus Completely
If none of these steps solved your problem, then you can consider uninstalling Avast Antivirus completely. Although we strongly discourage it, as Avast is the best free Antivirus available.
If you’re sure you want to do it, follow our step-by-step guide ‘How to Uninstall/Remove Avast Antivirus 2019‘ or download the simple removal tool called Avast Uninstall Utility.
Additional Notes
Although we have used Avast Free Antivirus 2019 screenshots in this article, these steps are also applicable for all Avast Antivirus solutions (i.e. also for Avast Pro Antivirus, Avast Internet Security, or Avast Premier) running the latest version available.
Steps are relevant for all Windows versions – Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (including Anniversary Update).
Turning off Avast protection may leave your computer at risk.Avast is our favorite antivirus program for Windows, but it isn't perfect. It has a lot of great advanced settings, but it also comes with annoying sounds, popups, ads, and extra tools you probably don't want. Here are the ideal settings to get rid of its annoyances.
You should always have a good antivirus program running, even if you browse carefully—and Avast is a great option. It's biggest downside, however, is its constant nagging and loud notifications. Luckily, you can turn all of these off—you just need to know which settings to tick.
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Read more How Do I Turn Off Avast Temporarily
ReadFirst: Use Avast's Custom Installation
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Let's start at the beginning: When you first install Avast, we highly recommend choosing the 'Custom Installation' option, as we do with all programs. This ensures you only get the features and add-ons you want, and none of the stuff you don't.
By default, Avast's custom installation comes with a lot of things checked. Most of them shouldn't bug you too much, but we recommend unchecking anything you don't think you'll use. For me, that means unchecking the Software Updater, Remote Assistance, SecureLine, GrimeFighter, and Browser Cleanup features. I already have other software updaters, remote access, VPN, and cleanup tools installed that I prefer. I usually leave the browser protection enabled (though I don't use it much) and the rescue disk tool in case I need it.
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If you want, you can read more about what these features do on Avast's web site. Unchecking the ones you don't want may stop some notifications related to these features—like the software updater—and will tidy up the Avast interface, to boot.
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Turn Off Avast's Sounds
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When you get a virus, it's nice to have an audible notification to let you know—but I don't need the soothing voice of Lady Avast telling me every time my virus definitions have been updated (even if I can make the voice sound like a pirate).
To mute Avast's voice notifications (recommended): Head to Settings > General > Sounds and uncheck the 'Use Voiceover Sounds' box. All notification sounds will just have the familiar 'ding' instead of a spoken notification.
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To mute certain notifications: Head to Settings > General > Sounds and uncheck the boxes for any notifications you'd like to mute. This will stop that particular notification from making any sound. Generally, I prefer to leave this on for completed scans and found viruses.
To mute all sounds: Head to Settings > General > Sounds and uncheck 'Enable Avast Sounds.'
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Turn Off Update Notifications and Ad Popups
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Avast's other main annoyance is its constant notifications. Once again, I appreciate notifications if I've gotten a virus, but I don't really need a popup every time it updates virus definitions, or every time it wants me to upgrade to Avast premium. Luckily, this is easily fixed with one checkbox.
To turn off ads and update notifications (recommended): Head to Settings > Update > Details and uncheck the 'Show Notification Box After Automatic Update' box. This one box disables both update notifications and ads. We wish there were two separate options (for those that wanted notifications about virus definition updates), but we'll take what we can get. After unchecking this one box, I've found that Avast behaves better than ever.
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To turn off all notifications: Head to Settings > General and turning on Silent/Gaming Mode. I generally don't like this because I prefer to get notifications when I have a virus or potentially unwanted program detected.
How Do I Turn Off Avast Cleanup Pro For Mac
To change the duration of notifications: Head to Settings > General > Popups. Each notification type has a number, in seconds, that it'll appear on your screen. You can tweak this to your liking (setting it to 0 gives it unlimited duration).
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Other Features You May Want to Tweak
How Do I Turn Off Avast Secure Browser
Those are the big ones, but while you're making a trip through the settings, there are a few other settings we recommend at least looking at:
- Avast! Community: In Settings > General, you may or may not want to uncheck 'Participate in the Avast! Community' if you prefer Avast not collect anonymous data.
- Software Updater Notifications: If you do use the Software Updater feature, but want to turn off the sounds, these are managed by a separate checkbox in Settings > Tools > Software Updater.
- Chrome as Default Browser: Avast, by default, uses Chrome as its default browser for any links clicked in its interface. To turn this off, just head to Settings > Troubleshooting > Do Not Use Chrome as Avast! Default Browser.
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These are generally less annoying than the main sound and popup features, but they're worth looking at while you're digging around the settings.
This isn't an exhaustive list of every setting in Avast, just the ones we recommend tweaking as soon as you install it (based on the ones people complain about most). Avast has a lot of other features and settings that are pretty handy, so as with most programs, we recommend giving yourself a little tour of everything it has to offer when you first install it. Hopefully this guide at least makes it a little less annoying. Of course, if you prefer to try another program altogether, there are some great alternatives in our App Directory. Good luck!
How Do I Turn Off Avast Antivirus
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