In very rare cases, Avast may detect and block some programsor website pages as a virus, although you know for sure it’s safe. These wrong detections are called false positives. If such false-positive detection prevails after the virus definitions update, you may want to exclude the detected software or website from the Avast scan.
Opera’s ad blocker also works well. After turning it on in the settings, you’ll find it blocks almost every ad you come across. The only exception I found was that it failed to block the interstitial ads common on Forbes (the quote ad that often pops up before reading an article). You don’t have to be an Avast user to get help from our premium tech support services. Total Care Get 24/7 premium tech support from a team of experts, and fix your computer, smartphone, tablet, or printer remotely. Avast Call Blocker for iOS is a mobile app that helps you avoid unwanted calls, including those from numbers you may not recognize as spam. Each time you receive a phone call, Avast Call Blocker checks the number against a database of known spam callers as well as any numbers you specify on your personal blocklist.
This is a perfect fix when Avast is blocking one of your favorite programs, but you still want to run/allow it. In the past, Avast was blocking some of the most popular software (Steam for example) for a short period of time. To be fair false-positive detection happens basically to every antivirus on the market, it’s not just Avast.
Anyway, we strongly recommend scanning the file/webpage also through some other virus engines to make sure it’s really clean. For this, you can use a free online scanner VirusTotal. Sometimes you may think the file/URL are safe but they are actually infected and it’s not just Avast which is detecting them.
Quick Summary
- Make sure the blocked file or webpage is not malicious by testing it at www.virustotal.com
- Add it as an exception by going to Settings » General » Exclusions
- Confirm by clicking OK
Read more detailed steps and other options including screenshots below.
In this guide, you will learn how, but we strongly suggest using exclusions only when you’re an advanced user. There are three basic types of exclusions/exceptions in the Avast Antivirus 2019:
- Global exclusion list of the folder/file/program/application from being scanned at all
- Global exclusion list of the website/URL from being scanned at all
- Exclusions in the specific shield (File System Shield, Mail Shield, or Web Shield)
Global Whitelist — Exclude Specific Folder/File/Program/Application from All Avast Scans
If you want to add the exception for the specific website, domain, or URL from being scanned by Avast, follow these steps. This is so-called Global Whitelist or Exclusion List.
- Open the Avast user interface and go to ‘Settings‘ » ‘General‘
- Find the tab ‘Exclusions‘ and add specific programs to the ‘File paths‘ tab
- Added applications and/or paths will now be excluded from any Avast scanning
Adding File/Folder/Program Exception into Avast 2019
Ad Blocker For Mac Firefox
On the screenshot above you can see that application ‘FileZilla FTP Client‘ and ‘DAEMON Tools Lite‘ are excluded. Such exceptions also apply to all sub-folders on these folders as we have used ‘/*’ in the path.
Global Whitelist — Exclude Specific Website/URL from All Avast Scans
If you want to add the exception for the specific Avast shield, follow these steps.
- Open the Avast user interface and go to ‘Settings‘ » ‘General‘
- Find the tab ‘Exclusions‘ and add specific websites or URLs in the ‘Urls‘ tab. Please note ‘http://’ will be added automatically, so if you want to exclude Yahoo, just type yahoo.com. Please note you need to differentiate between ‘http://’ and ‘https://’
- Added websites/URLs will now be excluded from any Avast scanning
Adding Website/Domain/URL Exception into Avast 2019
Rate avast for mac review 2017. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware, and 100 percent of Windows malware. Avast Free Mac Security caught 99.9 percent of all malware, packs in a password manager, barely leaves a smudge on system impact and doesn’t charge a dime.
On the screenshot above you can see that URLs ‘https://www.gmail.com‘ and ‘http(s)://.gmail.com‘ are excluded. Such exception also applies to all pages on these domains as we have used ‘/*’ in the path.
Add Exception for Specific Avast Antivirus Shield (File System Shield, Mail Shield, or Web Shield)
If you want to add the exception for the specific Avast shield, follow the steps further.
- Open the Avast user interface and go to ‘Settings‘ » ‘Active Protection‘
- Select the shield (File System, Mail, or Web) for which you want to add the exception, and click on ‘Customize’ link
- Find the menu item ‘Exclusions‘ and add the item you want to exclude from scanning by the specific Avast shield. You can also specify when the exclusion applies (for reading, writing, or executing)
- Please note that global exclusions are always applied although they aren’t listed in the specific shield. Also please note a lot of items are listed there by default
Adding Specific Shield (File System, Mail, or Web) Exception into Avast 2019
On the screenshot above, you can see many items are excluded from the File System Shield scan by default. We haven’t added any of them.
[IMPORTANT] Restart All Avast Shields to Make Exclusion Work
After you successfully add the file or webpage to exclusions you need to actually restart all Avast shields to make it work. Otherwise, Avast will keep detecting and blocking it as a threat.
Ad Blocker Chrome
- Find Avast icon in the Windows system tray (click on the top arrow)
- Go to ‘Avast shields control‘ » ‘Disable for 10 minutes‘ » confirm
- Go again back to ‘Avast shields control‘ » ‘Enable all shields‘
Restarting All Avast Shields From the Windows System Tray
Now Avast should stop detecting the added files/URLs in the exclusions. You can also simply just restart your Windows.
Report a False Positive Detection to Avast
We also strongly suggest reporting the detection you believe is a false positive directly to Avast team. They will look into it and eventually confirm the reported file, software, or website is clean.
Link to report is included on every in-product pop-up displayed when the harmful webpage or file is blocked. Just click on ‘Report the file as a false positive‘.
Avast Web Shield Has Blocked a Harmful Webpage or File Pop-up
Then you need to fill-in following simple form. In the additional info, you can add a link from VirusTotal scan. Don’t forget to check the option ‘I know what I’m doing‘ and click on ‘Submit‘.
Avast In-product Form for Reporting False Positive Detection of Files or Websites
Disable Ad Blocker Mac
Alternatively, you can use the official web form for reporting false positive detection.
Official Avast Web Form for Reporting False Positive Detection of Files or Websites
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.
https://vannew.medium.com/avast-safe-for-mac-f0abbf0121b7. See: In addition, that page has three big green download buttons near the top of the page.
Steps are relevant for all Windows versions — Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (including Anniversary Update).
Managing exceptions or turning off Avast protection may leave your computer at risk.
Avast Security Pro for Mac is the professional version of the hugely popular AV program. Efficient and comprehensive, the popularity stems from the reliable and trustworthy brand that Avast have created over the years. Although virus and malware issues are not as prevalent on the Mac platform as they are on Windows, there are serious threats out there that you will need protection from. Avast Security Pro for Mac’s key features are the advanced ransomware protection tools and the advanced network security tools.
Avast Security Pro for Mac has a simple and easy to navigate UI. The key features can be easily reached in the sidebar and the homepage is customizable, so you can access the tools you use most often easily.
Avast Security Pro’s Ransomware Shield expands on the standard ransomware protection of Avast Free Mac Security, in order to stop ransomware variants from holding your files hostage. The tool can even go beyond the standard ransomware protection in order to stop any untrusted app from changing or deleting your protected data.
Key Features include:
- Real time virus, spyware, and other threat detection.
- Secure personal files and photos from ransomware attacks.
- Instant alerts for network weaknesses and intruders.
- Malicious website warning for safer online payments.
- Mail Shield.
- Custom Scan options.
- File Shield.
- Web Shield.
- WiFi Inspector.
Comprehensive Protection is something that Avast takes very seriously. With Avast Security Pro for Mac you can be sure that your protection is first rate. With a constantly updated database of virus definitions, your computer will be protected against the latest spyware, viruses and potentially hazardous websites.
Avast’s large and active community quickly alerts the development team of new security threats which are swiftly countered and added to Avast’s significant database. The browser add-on further improves computer security with features like cookie and social tracking blocking.
Ad Blocker Mac Chrome
Overall, Avast Security Pro for Mac is without a doubt, one of the best total security suite’s available for the Mac platform. It is relatively lightweight and super-efficient, while still providing a comprehensive security protection for your Mac. The appearance is clean and uncluttered, with buttons intuitively labelled and positioned, so the app can be navigated by users of all levels of expertise.
