Avast Antivirus provides a range of scans to protect your PC from malware. You can also create your own scan and specify the parameters. Refer to the sections in this article for details about the following Virus Scans:
It's not malware. If it's anything at all, it's the indexed text of a fraudulent email message. 'Avast' is perhaps the worst of the whole wretched lot of commercial 'security' products for the Mac. Just did an AVAST virus scan, the following items were UNABLE TO SCAN. The list took 4 1/2 full screen pages.(168 items) Each of the following had numerous files with the same reason for being.
- Smart Scan: a comprehensive scan that detects malware, out-of-date software, browser add-ons with poor reputations, network threats, and performance issues.
- Full Virus Scan: a predefined, in-depth scan of your system that checks your storage drives and memory for malware (including rootkits).
- Targeted Scan: scans the folders you select when you initiate the scan.
- Boot-Time Scan: scans your PC during the next system startup before any malware is launched. Running a Boot-Time Scan during startup improves the chances of detecting and removing malware before it can attack your PC.
- Custom scans: scans your PC according to the parameters that you specified for your scan.
- Explorer Scan: scans specific files or folders directly from your desktop via File Explorer.
Run a scan
- Open the Avast user interface and go to Protection ▸ Virus Scans.
- Run your preferred scan:
- Smart Scan: Click the Run Smart Scan button.
- Full Virus Scan: Click the Full Virus Scan tile.
- Targeted Scan: Click the Targeted Scan tile, then select the file or folder you want to scan, and click OK.
- Boot-Time Scan: Click the Boot-Time Scan tile, then click Run On Next PC Reboot.
- Custom scans: Click the Custom scans tile, then click Scan Now on the panel for the scan you want to run.
Create a custom scan
To create a custom scan:
- Open the Avast user interface and go to Protection ▸ Virus Scans.
- Click the Custom scans tile.
- Click Create A New Scan.
- Define the scan parameters. The following parameters are available:
- Scan name: type a name for your scan into the text box.
Customize your scan
- Scan type: select either Full Virus Scan or Targeted Scan depending on what you want your scan to check on your PC.
- Frequency: define how often your scan runs.
Advanced settings
- Sensitivity (Medium by default): the higher the sensitivity, the higher the protection and potential for false positive malware detection. Lower sentivity reduces the potential for false positive detections, but may reduce the effectiveness of the scan.
- Scan for potentially unwanted programs (PUPs): enables Avast to scan for programs that are stealthily downloaded with other programs and typically perform unwanted activity.
- Follow links during scan: enables Avast to scan other files used by the files being scanned for potentially harmful content.
- Test whole files: enables Avast to scan entire files rather than only the parts typically affected by malicious code.
- Scan priority: use the drop-down menu to set your Scan priority (Medium priority by default).
Scan areas
- All Harddisks: enables Avast to scan all hard drives on your PC.
- System drive: the options in this section apply to data that is stored on physical devices such as hard drives and USB sticks.
- All Removable media: enables Avast to scan applications that launch automatically when you insert a USB or other removable device into your PC. Scanning removable media may take a long time due to speed limitations.
- Rootkits: enables Avast to scan for hidden threats in the system.
- CD-ROM & DVD drives: enables Avast to scan CD and DVD drives for malicious content.
- Modules loaded in memory: enables Avast to scan applications and processes that launch after system startup or run in the background.
Packers and Archives
- Scan most common used types: archive commonly used file types such as .zip, .rar, and other executable or installer archives.
- Scan all types of archives: the scan analyzes all archive files, which significantly increases the scan duration.
- Don't scan archives: disables Full Virus Scan from scanning archive files.
File Types
- Content based types (slow): scans files that are typically most vulnerable to malware attacks.
- Name extension based types (fast): scans files with only risky extensions, such as .exe, .com, .bat.
- Scan all files (very slow): scans all files on your PC for malware.
- Perform automatic actions during this scan: tick this option to enable it, then define the automatic action Avast will perform when an infected file is found.
- Shut down computer after scan finishes: enables Avast to shut down your PC after your scan completes.
- Generate report file: enables Avast to create and store a report file automatically after the scan completes.
- Exceptions: click View exceptions, click Add Exception, then locate a file, folder, or web page that will not be scanned by your new custom scan.
Parameters for new Custom scans will save automatically and can be reconfigured at any time. To run a new Custom scan, go to Protection ▸ Virus Scans ▸ Custom scans, then click Scan Now next to the scan you want to run.
Process scan results
After a scan completes, Avast displays all found issues. You can resolve the issues directly on the results screen, or configure each Virus Scan to resolve issues automatically upon detection.
Smart Scan
To learn more about resolving found issues after Smart Scan completes, refer to the following article:
Other Virus Scans
You can define how each scan automatically reacts to a found issue.
- Open the Avast user interface and go to
☰Menu ▸ Settings. - Click Protection in the left panel, and ensure Virus Scans is selected.
- Click the scan you want to define automatic behavior for.
- Scroll down, tick the box next to Perform automatic actions during this scan, then select which action you want Avast to perform when an issue is found. The following actions are available:
- Fix automatically: Avast attempts to repair the file. If unsuccessful, the file is moved to the Virus Chest. If that fails, Avast deletes the file.
- Move file to Virus Chest: Avast sends the file directly to the Virus Chest where the file cannot harm your system.
- Delete file: Avast permanently removes the file from your PC.
If you want Avast to do nothing when an infected file is found, untick the box next to Perform automatic actions during this scan (not recommended). To manage unresolved scan detections at any time, go to Protection ▸ Virus Scans ▸ Scan history.
Special cases
For incomplete scans, an error message indicating the reason the scan was unable to complete is visible on the scanning screen. Although there are many different reasons a scan may be unable to complete, some of the most common reasons are:
- Archive is password protected: indicates that the file is password protected. Some programs use password protected archives to store their data even if you did not set the password. Depending on your scan settings, only the 'wrapper' file is scanned while the archive content is not.
- Archive is corrupted: indicates that the file may be corrupt because it was only partially downloaded or saved to your harddisk, or that it is a special type of archive.
- The process cannot access the file because of another process: indicates that another process or program was accessing the file during the scan.
- The file is a decompression bomb: indicates that the file was too large to be decompressed for malware analysis. Decompression of large files generates vast amounts of data which can cause your system to be unstable or cause it to crash.
Adjust scan settings
Although customizable settings are available for some Virus Scans, we recommend you only modify settings for Custom scans. To configure scan settings:
- Open the Avast user interface and go to Protection ▸ Virus Scans.
- Click Settings (the gear icon) in the top-right corner of the Virus Scans screen.
- Select the scan you want to adjust settings for.
- Configure your preferred settings.
For more information about Virus Scan settings, refer to the following article:
Create and use Rescue Disk
If you suspect your PC is infected with malware and all other Virus Scans (including the Boot-Time scan) were unable to resolve the issue, you can use Rescue Disk. Rescue Disk enables you to scan your PC when your system is not running. This method significantly increases your chances of detecting and removing malware because the malware is detected before it is able to counteract.
For more information about Rescue Disk, refer to the following article:
Review scan history
To review scan history:
Run Avast Scan Now
- Open the Avast user interface and go to Protection ▸ Virus Scans.
- Click Scan history.
- Hover your cursor over a scan panel, then click the down arrow to see the scan details.
Click the red X in the top-left corner to return to the main Virus Scans screen.
- Avast Premium Security 19.x
- Avast Free Antivirus 19.x
- Avast Omni 1.x
- Avast Premier 19.x
- Avast Internet Security 19.x
- Avast Pro Antivirus 19.x
Avast Cannot Scan Some Files
- Microsoft Windows 10 Home / Pro / Enterprise / Education - 32 / 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows 8.1 / Pro / Enterprise - 32 / 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows 8 / Pro / Enterprise - 32 / 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic / Home Premium / Professional / Enterprise / Ultimate - Service Pack 1, 32 / 64-bit
Today's best Avast Free Mac Security deals
Avast Free Mac Security doesn't break a lot of new ground. As is the case with most free software, it does an OK job and — like popular free-to-play games — aims to pull money from your pockets after it's installed.
The one major perk of Avast Free Mac Security is that it can identify attacks in your email inbox, a feature that we'd like to see in all Mac antivirus services. At the end of the day, though, Avast's Mac malware protection rate isn't quite as good as its competitors', which is the most important part of antivirus software.
Avast Free Mac Security costs and what's covered
Avast Free Mac Security is free. It supports Macs running any version of macOS, as long as they have 128MB of RAM and 750MB of available disk space.
Antivirus protection
Avast Free Mac Security keeps Macs free of malware using traditional signature-based detection by unpacking Mac-specific file formats and scanning them for malicious content. It also uses its artificial-intelligence system to apply lessons from its user base to train its software.
Avast also thwarts PC malware on Mac, to prevent it from spreading on networks, and scans unopened ZIP files. It performs system protection scanning in the background, permits both on-demand and scheduled scans, and can scan your router to protect you against DNS hijacking and other threats.
Antivirus detection
Avast Free Mac Security's on-demand malware-scanning engine has a mixed record in recent lab tests. It stopped 100% of malware in tests conducted by Austrian lab AV-Comparatives in July 2018 and June 2019.
Results from German lab AV-Test were less consistent: 100% of Mac malware was detected by Avast in June 2018 and June 2019, but Avast caught only 96.3% of malware in December 2018.
That means Avast tied with Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac on the AV-Comparatives test (both hit 100%). However, it failed to match Bitdefender, Kaspersky and Norton 360 Deluxe on the AV-Test study, in which all three earned 100% scores.
Of all the Mac antivirus programs we tested, Avast Free Mac Security was the only one that flagged items already on our system as threats. Specifically, it found three email messages in my old, inactive, Outlook database that contained links to phishing websites.
Security and privacy features
Avast Free Mac Security includes Avast's Online Security browser extension, which automatically installs itself in Chrome unless you opt out, while Firefox provides a confirmation prompt to make sure you approve the extension. The Avast extension appears as a button that is green when you're safe and red if a site is potentially harmful. Similar flags will appear next to search results.
If you're wary of sites that monitor your actions, the Avast browser extension also displays a counter badge that tallies the number of activity trackers found in a website and provides an additional option to block social network-based tracking.
Avast Mac Unable To Scan
Not only does Avast scan activity on your hard drive and web browsers, but it also monitors POP3 and IMAP email clients, including Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Postbox and Airmail, and scans email attachments as well as email messages.
Avast monitors your computer and its network connections in the background, scans new files upon installation and lets you schedule scans. However, Avast Free Mac Security doesn't have any of the extra features offered by paid competitors, such as parental controls, a VPN service, firewalls or webcam blockers.
Performance and system impact
Avast Free Mac Security had a moderate impact on system performance, which we assessed by running our custom Excel VLOOKUP benchmark test, which matches 60,000 names and addresses on a spreadsheet. Our test machine wasa 2017 MacBook Air with a 1.8-GHz Intel Core i5 CPU and approximately 54GB of data stored on a 128GB SSD.
With Avast Free Mac Security installed on our MacBook, but without any active scans running, the VLOOKUP test finished in an average of 3 minutes and 38 seconds, 1 second longer than without any antivirus software installed. That's a passive system hit of less than 1%, and not something you would likely perceive.
MORE: Hackers Say They've Breached Three Antivirus Companies
Other antivirus products' passive system impacts ranged from 5% (Sophos Home Premium) to zero percent (Bitdefender). This is overall great news for Mac users: Most of the time, you'll never notice that you've got antivirus software running.
You would be more likely to notice the slowdowns created by Avast's active scans. During full-system scans, the VLOOKUP test finished in an average of 4 minutes and 59 seconds, resulting in a big performance dip of 37 percent. That's not as bad as McAfee AntiVirus Plus' 47% fall (the worst offender), although it wasn't as good as Sophos' 7% full-scan system hit.
Avast's full-scan completion time, which took an hour and 11 minutes on average, was on the longer end of scores but was not the longest we found — Sophos' 2-hour-and-56-minute time was the longest. Malwarebytes for Mac Premium's full scan took a miraculous 16 seconds, while Bitdefender closed its full scan in 4:25. Kaspersky (41:20) and Norton (25:49) fell in the middle of the pack.
Interface
Avast Free Mac Security may not be the prettiest antivirus app, but it provides a number of functions and options. Its main window shows users a Protected status, as scans are enabled by default. All other features, including on-demand scans, are located in a menu bar on the left.
Avast's main window presents users with their status — Protected or otherwise — and a 'Run scan' button that pushes you to Avast Cleanup Pro. You'll be confused by this abrupt switch of apps if you weren't paying attention to the fine print, and you'll soon realize that Cleanup Pro is a paid product that looks to tidy up your hard drive and costs between $2.99 or $3.99 per month.
Avast Scheduled Scan
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Avast Security Unable To Scan
After you click that Run scan button once, it changes to an Upgrade button for Avast Security Pro, which features anti-ransomware protections and Wi-Fi and network scanning. To avoid further confusion, click on Scans in the left-hand menu, which opens that section as well as other sections of the app, such as Reports, Virus Chest, Shields and Preferences.
In Scan, you can select from a number of different types, such as scans of custom directories, scans of removable volumes and scans of your home network. Avast also includes scheduled scans, an increasingly rare option these days.
Avast For Mac Unable To Scan All Files In Folder
Clicking on New Scan presents a Start button for activating a Quick Scan and a Change Scan Type button to switch to a full-computer scan.
You'll find database updates and analyses of scans performed on your system in Avast's Reports. Avast places files it flags as malicious into the Virus Chest quarantine section, where you can delete or restore them (if you think Avast is mistaken).
Open the Shields section to see real-time analysis of scanned files. Annoyingly, if the file directory is especially long, Avast won't give you the full directory, so you can't go look up the offending file for yourself. You may not need to, but we'd prefer to have the option.
In the Preferences tab, you'll find options to change the frequency of notifications, system updates and scans. Here, you can also disable hard-drive, email and web protection, although Avast wisely makes you enter your system password first. Additionally, you can disable Avast's menu-bar icon from this window (it's under Miscellaneous).
If you create an account with Avast, you can check the status of any systems you've logged into in the Account tab as well as at my.avast.com. Avast's menu-bar button provides links to open the main interface window, see current activity and application information, and review previous notifications.
Installation and support
To install Avast Free Mac Security, you open Avast.com and click Download, which will place the installer DMG on your Mac. (Thankfully, you won't have to go through download.com anymore, an annoying part of the previous model.) After you click through the end-user-license agreements, the installer will download more files and install Avast.
No restart is required, and the whole process took about 2 minutes for me, which felt about normal. In the middle of the installation, you get the option to not install Avast's unlimited Password Manager and the company'sSecureLine VPN client. The Avast Online Security browser plug-in is free, but you get only a seven-day trial of SecureLine VPN service, which otherwise starts at $60 per year.
To get technical support, click Help in the menu bar, select Avast Technical Support and then select Contact Help to open Avast's Support site. Here, you can find a FAQ, ask for help in the forums and call a customer-support line that will provide free advice for installing, configuring, updating and removing Avast.
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If you need more help than that, Avast offers paid support starting at $79 for any call that isn't related to removing a virus or malware, or at $119 per call for virus-related calls. For more support, you can spend $199 for a year of unlimited service, or $10 per month plus a $99 setup fee.
Bottom line
Avast's email scanning gives it an edge over competing Mac antivirus products. It needs such an advantage when the rest of its package is such a mixed bag.
Not only does Avast's software continually push you to spend money on additional services (unlikely if you've already chosen to use free antivirus software), but its malware detection rates aren't great overall.
If you're going to pay, you should instead choose Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac, which gives you excellent protection and a low system impact for $40 a year. If
you'd rather not pay, then Avast is the best free option, but only because Sophos Home, which has a more full-featured free tier, has undetermined malware-protection abilities on Macs.