Best and Free Malware Removal Tools for Windows and Mac

Are you looking for the best malware removal tool to remove malware from your computer? You can just try the free malware removal tools mentioned in this MiniTool post to help you out. These tools are safe and popular. Be sure to get them from the official site to avoid secondary malware attacks.

What Is Malware? Why You Should Remove It from Your Computer?

What Is Malware?

Malware, which is a portmanteau for malicious software, is the software intentionally designed to disrupt a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to users’ information or systems, deprive users of access to information or which unknowingly interferes with the user’s computer security and privacy. There are many types of malware, such as computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, rogue software, wiper, and scareware.

Malware can exist on both Windows computers and Mac computers. It can be built into an unknown site. When you click the site, the malware could be downloaded and installed on your device unconsciously. At times, hackers add the malware to an email and send it to you. When you open the email and click the link in it, all you get is malware.

Why You Should Remove Malware from Your Computer?

As you can imagine, if your computer is attacked by malware, it can cause serious problems for individuals and businesses. That’s why you should remove malware from your computer, and be quick.

The commonly used defense strategy against malware is to use professional malware removal tools. How many malware removal tools do you know? Which one is best for you?

There are many free malware removal tools available in the market. Not all of these tools are safe and trustworthy. Some malware disguise itself as a malware scanner and cleaner to trick you into downloading & installing, and harm your computer as well as the data in it. So when you choose such a tool, you’d better choose those well-known and widely acclaimed software.

To save your time and solve problems as quickly as possible, we gather some popular and free malware removal tools and show them in the following part. Some for Windows computers and some for Mac. You can select one according to the system you are running and your requirements.

Best Free Malware Removal Tools

Best Official Malware Removal Tool for Windows: Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

If you are running Windows 10, you can consider using Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. This tool can scan your computer for specific widespread malware and tries to eliminate the infection. It is designed by Microsoft. So, it is not a third-party tool. It is a good choice for those who only trust the tools from Microsoft.

However, this tool is not 100% installed on your device by default. Perhaps, your Windows computer gets it due to a Windows Update. But there are still many users who report that they can’t find this free malware removal tool on their computer. Don’t worry. You can manually download it from Microsoft’s official site and then install it on your device. Currently, this tool can work on Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7.

You know, there’s always new malware that threatens users’ computers. If the database of a malicious software removal tool is not updated, it will not find and remove the new threats on your device. However, if you are using Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, you should not worry about this issue. Microsoft keeps this tool up-to-date all the time. The company releases the update via Windows Update. Now, you can go to check if there is an available update for it by clicking the Check for updates button in Windows Update.

This tool is not designed to replace your anti-virus software. Conversely, it is recommended to use it with other antivirus tools like the Windows built-in Windows Security or a third-party anti-virus app.

Microsoft only releases security updates for Windows 10/11 versions that are still in the service of support. So, if you want your device to get the updates in time, you’d better update your system to the latest version. (Here is why update your Windows in time: Should You Keep Windows Up-to-Date and How to Do This)

Best Third-Party Malware Removal Tool: Malwarebytes

If you want to use a third-party tool to remove viruses, malware, and spyware from your computer, Malwarebytes is your best option. This software is very popular and it can work on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Android, and iOS devices.

This software can protect your device from hackers, malicious sites, infected ads, credit card skimmers, and credential stealers. The Brute Force protection can block hackers attempting to guess your login info. The Uninstall protection can block malware from disabling your security product.

This tool has a trial edition, with it you can use it for free within 14 days. But the free edition doesn’t support real-time scanning and the protection features that are existing in the premium version.

If you are interested in this best free malware removal tool, you can go to https://www.malwarebytes.com/ to download a suitable version according to the system you are running.

Best Antivirus with Malware Removal: Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition

Bitdefender Antivirus Free is designed for supplying antivirus protection for Windows, macOS, and Android. It supports scanning and removing viruses & malware. It can also supply online threat prevention, ransomware remediation, and vulnerability assessment.

While, the free edition only supports viruses & malware scanning and removal, and online threat prevention. If you want to use the full features of this software, you can upgrade to Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. Currently, you only need to pay $19.99 for this version.

If you want to use this software to remove malware from your device, you can go to https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html to get it.

Best Ad-Blocker: Adaware Antivirus Free

Adaware Antivirus is a tool designed to protect you against viruses, malware, spyware, phishing, online scams, and hackers. It offers real-time threat detection for your device and keeps your web searches completely anonymous. It can also block hackers from watching you or listening to you.

The attraction of this product is that it can block all ads including Facebook and video ads. Besides, it adds security guards against online threats.

As you know, malware can easily attack your computer if you click some unknown ads by mistake. This software does not give malware a chance to attack your computer because it can directly block the suspected ads.

It has a free edition. You can go to https://www.adaware.com/ to get it on your device.

Best for Spyware and Malware: SUPERAntiSpyware

From the name of this software, you can see that it is specially designed to detect and remove spyware and malware on your device. This software works on all versions of Windows including Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11.

Moreover, this software has more attractive malware removal features. For example, it can protect your Windows PC from malicious threats from malware, spyware, ransomware, Trojans, key loggers, and more. It can also supply real-time and robust protection.

This is the official site of this software: https://www.superantispyware.com/. You can download the free edition of this software from this page and use it to protect your computer.

Best for Mac: Avast Security for Mac

If you are running a Mac computer, you can also use Avast Security for Mac to scan your device for viruses, spyware, & malware, and remove them to kill the threats. Avast is a very famous antivirus service supplier. Its software is worth trusting.

Avast Security for Mac can block viruses, spyware, Trojans, and other malware in real-time. Besides, it can also scan your entire Mac for the existing threats. It alerts you when you are going to visit unsafe websites, blocks unsafe downloads, stops dangerous email attachments, and prevents intrusive web tracking. It implements all-round protection for your Mac computer.

You can go to this page https://www.avast.com/free-mac-security#pc to learn more information about this software and download the free edition to try it.

How to Protect Your Computer from Malware?

It is an annoying thing if your computer is infected with malware and spyware. To avoid this situation, you’d better pay attention to the following things when using your device:

Keep your system and software updated.
Don’t click the links you don’t know.
Don’t download files you don’t know.
Download files from the official site.
Don’t open the email from an unknown sender.
Don’t click unknown links in an email.
Don’t download apps from the pop-up window.
Use antivirus software on your device.

How to Safeguard Your Data on Your Computer?

Back up Your Files and System Regularly

We believe that there are many important data on your computer. If your computer is infected with viruses, malware, or spyware, your files will be at risk. To protect your files, you’d better use professional data backup software to back up your files to an external hard drive to keep them safe. You can try MiniTool ShadowMaker.

This software works on Windows versions like Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 7. It can back up files, folders, partitions, disks, and systems using different backup solutions. For example, it supports automatic backup, differential and incremental images, and schedule and event trigger backup. You can select a suitable backup method as per your requirements.

MiniTool ShadowMaker has a trial edition. You can use it for free within 30 days.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Rescue Your Files after Viruses and Malware Attack

If your files are lost due to some unexpected situations like malware infection, you can use a professional data recovery software to get them back as long as they are not overwritten. MiniTool Power Data Recovery, a free file recovery tool, is worth trying.

This software can recover all kinds of files (like images, video files, audio files, documents, etc.) from different types of data storage devices. It works under different situations. For example, it can recover files that are deleted or formatted by mistake. It also restores data if the data storage drive is in inaccessible.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery also has a trial edition. You can use it to scan the device you want to recover data from and check if it works to find your needed files. This software supports all version of Windows, including Windows 11.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

It is easy to use this software to get your lost files back.

After downloading and installing this software on your Windows computer, you can open it and select the target drive to scan. When the scanning ends, you can check if your needed files are there. If yes, you can upgrade to a full edition to recover files without limits. Here is one thing you should know: the destination storage drive should not be the original one. Otherwise, your lost files could be overwritten and become unrecoverable.

Bottom Line

Want to select a reliable malware removal tool for your computer? This article gives you some best and free choices. You can select one according to your requirements. Additionally, you also get some useful tips to prevent your computer from malware and safeguard your files & system. If you have any other suggestions or issues, you can let us know in the comments. You can also contact us via [email protected].

About The Author

Stella Follow Us

Position: Columnist

Stella has been working in MiniTool Software as an English Editor for more than 7 years. Her articles mainly cover the fields of data recovery including storage media data recovery and phone data recovery, YouTube videos download, partition management, and video conversions.