Best Ways to Disable Avast for PC and Mac Temporarily/Completely

What Is Avast?

Simply put, Avast is one of the best free antivirus programs on the market that you can download it for use. It has been around a long time, helping you to protect against many threats from the local files, instant messages, emails, internet, P2P connections, etc.

It also offers various services including computer security, firewall, anti-phishing, browser security, antispyware, anti-spam and more. Importantly, it can be used in multiple platforms such as Windows, Mac, Android, iPad & iPhone and loT. To get more information about this program, refer to its official website.

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Why Need to Disable Avast

Although this antivirus program is powerful and excellent, you sometimes need to disable Avast, especially when you install a new application or driver. This is because the program might not recognize or allow the installation as it deems the app or driver as unknown sources and even it misreads a trustable setup as a threat.

For this common issue, we will show you how to disable Avast in detail for Windows and Mac, along with some visual pictures.

How to Disable Avast Free Antivirus in Windows 10/8/7

The following section is about methods to turn off complete or individual Avast antivirus shields. Let’s go to see the detailed steps.

How to Close Avast Completely (All Shields)

Basically, turning off all the shields of Avast refers to completely stopping or disabling the whole active protection of this free antivirus. Thus, you should know what you are doing. Generally, the following is also the procedure of how to stop Avast from running in the background.

Step 1: Control Avast Shields

1. Go to the taskbar in Windows 10/8/7, right-click on the icon of Avast and you can see some options regarding the security suite.

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2. Choose Avast shields control.

3. Choose one option based on how long you want to stop Avast from running. To disable Avast permanently, you can choose the last one. To temporarily disable Avast, the former three options are available.

Step 2: Confirm Your Operation

After choosing an option, this software asks you to make a confirmation. All shields will be turned off or stopped. This may cause a malware attack, so do this operation prudently. Then, click OK to continue.

Step 3: Go Back to the Main Window

Later, open the main interface and you will find this software gives you a message in red saying “All your shields are off”. This means you are not protected by Avast. To use it again, you should click RESOLVE.

How to Disable Avast (Specified Shields)

In the above, we have shown you how to close Avast completely. Sometimes, you may want to only turn off or stop certain shields. Now, let’s go to see the step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Run Avast Free Antivirus in Windows 10/8/7. Then, go to its Protection interface where you can click Core Shields to choose core defenses.

Step 2: Choose the shield that you want to turn off or stop and click on the switcher.

Step 3: Avast gives you four options: Stop for 10 minutes, Stop for 1 hour, Stop until your next restart, and Stop indefinitely. Choose one based on your own needs.

Step 4: After confirmation, you can see the switcher becomes OFF in the Protection tab. To turn it on, you can change the switcher from OFF to ON.

How to Disable Avast on Windows Startup

Some users may want to stop this antivirus from running on startup. If you are the one, follow these steps below.

Step 1: Right-click on the taskbar and choose Task Manager.

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Step 2: Navigate to the Startup tab.

Step 3: Right-click on AvLaunch component and choose Disable. After that, it won’t automatically run when turning on your Windows 10/8/7.

How to Uninstall Avast Antivirus

Sometimes, you may want to remove Avast from your computer when you still can’t install an app or driver after trying the above ways. Here is how to uninstall Avast Antivirus in Windows 10/8/7.

Step 1: Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.

Step 2: Right-click on Avast Free Antivirus and choose Uninstall to remove it.

How to Disable Avast Mac

As mentioned above, you can use this program (full name – Avast Security) in Mac. Similarly, you can disable it when failing to install a new app or driver.

To do this work, you can open Avast Security, go to the Preferences interface where you can see three types of Avast Shield, choose the shield you want to turn off and then click Disable. If required, type an administrator password.

Besides, you can also choose to uninstall this program completely instead of stopping certain shields.

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How to Protect Your PC: Make a Backup

To some degree, you can only disable some shields of Avast or directly remove it rather than disabling it from Startup. Even, some users report that it will automatically restart.

After you disable/turn off Avast shields or uninstalling the program, your PC may be at risk of threats like malware, spyware, viruses, and more, which could cause data loss. To avoid data loss, you should make a backup for your important files.

MiniTool ShadowMaker can be your good assistant in backing up files. As a professional and secure file backup software, it can help to make a backup for Windows operating system (Windows 10/8/7/, etc.), the entire disk and partitions besides files & folders.

It offers two methods to back up your important files, imaging backup and file sync, helping to keep data safe well. Now, don’t hesitate to download MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition for 30-day free trial by hitting the download button.

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Here is the procedure of how to back up files.

Step 1: Choose a Local Backup

1. Double-click this program.
2. Continue to use the trial edition by clicking Keep Trial.
3. From the following interface, click the left Connect button to start a local backup.

Step 2: What to Back up

1. Go to the Source section, and choose the Folders and Files type.
2. In the pop-up window, check all the items you want to back up and click OK to go back to the Backup page.

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Step 3: Where to Back up

1. In the same way, go to the Destination section of the Backup page.
2. Choose a path to store the backup. A USB drive, external hard drive, NAS or network can be chosen depending on actual needs.

Step 4: Run a Backup

Choose Back up Now to start the backup in the Manage page.

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Useful Methods to Protect Your PC Against Virus and Malware

In addition to backing up your important files after you disable Avast or uninstall it, you can take some other measures to protect the PC from malware and virus.

Run Windows Defender

Windows Defender is a free antimalware program that comes with Windows 10, helping scan programs you open & new files downloaded from the web, protect PCs against from viruses, malware, and other malicious threats.

You can automatically update it through Windows Update. If you disable Avast, please ensure Windows Defender is running.

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Keep Windows Up-to-Date

Microsoft periodically releases some special security updates to protect your PC against viruses and some other malware attacks. Please make sure your Windows is running the latest operating system version to gain these security updates.

Use a Firewall

If a virus tries to connect to your computer, Windows Firewall or any other firewall program may tell you the suspicious campaign. Besides, it can block viruses or worms from trying to download malicious applications to the PC.

Ensure UAC Is Turned on

UAC refers to User Account Control that can notify you and ask you whether to approve the changes when some changes are made to your computer that needs administrator-level permission. This way, UAC can keep viruses from unwanted changes.

Some other tips you can pay attention to after you disable Avast

• Use a strong password
• Use your Internet browser’s privacy settings.
• Clear your Internet cache and your browsing history.
• Pay attention to Windows SmartScreen notifications.
• Use a pop-up blocker with your Internet browser.
• Don’t open email attachments that you don’t recognize and email messages from unfamiliar senders.

Bottom Line

After reading this post, you have clearly learned how to disable Avast in PC and Mac or uninstall Avast Antivirus. After stopping or removing it, your PC may be at risk of malware threats, thus, some measures to keep your PC from viruses are told to you. Take action!

Should you encounter any question regarding our software or any suggestion of closing or disabling Avast, leave your idea in the Comment part below or send an email to our team – [email protected]. We will reply to you as soon as possible. Thank you!