How To Pause Avast Antivirus Temporarily

As soon as computers and the internet were invented, nefarious and clever individuals started creating ways to break into them and access the potentially valuable information stored within. Today, most people have valuable information such as personal account logins, social security and ID information, bank records, and more stored on their personal laptops. This means that keeping your device secure should be at the top list of your priorities (unless you want your identity sold on the black market, that is).

The goal of an antivirus program is simple- it prevents potentially dangerous programs from being activated on your device. These could be viruses, phishing software, keyloggers, or destructive worms that destroy your PC’s core code. Scary stuff, right?

For the most part, antivirus programs like Avast do their job in silence. They operate in the background, ensuring that your computer is safe and secure from the millions of threats out there. From time to time, however, they can be a bit annoying.

For example, sometimes they’ll prevent you from downloading a program or software that you need. Or, they might prevent you from working using a certain VPN or downloading a torrent file. In these cases, it may be necessary to temporarily pause your antivirus so that you can proceed with your download or using a certain piece of software.

Today, we’re going to show you how to do that!

Overview of Avast Antivirus

There are a number of different antivirus programs on the market. Additionally, most Windows and Apple computers come with pre-installed defense software designed by the manufacturer (such as Windows Defender, for example). However, the free antivirus that comes with your device may not provide the powerful defense you need for your job or the sensitive data you have.

Avast is one of the most popular and easy-to-use antivirus programs on the market. Unlike large, clunky programs like Norton which functions just like a virus and actually slows your computer down, Avast is fast, lightweight, and gives users a high degree of control.

It’s also proven, tested, and comes highly reviewed by PC Mag, the leading PC publication in the tech industry.

Is There a Free Version of Avast Antivirus?

Yes! In fact, Avast’s free version is one of the top free antivirus programs on the internet. While they have multiple paid programs that range from $35 to $50 per year, the average PC or Mac user will be just fine with their free version. The main advantage of the paid versions is that you’ll get access to advanced firewalls and the Avast VPN.

That being said, you can also download a low-cost VPN for your Mac or PC here and use it in combination with Avast free if you want an extra-secure internet connection.

Why Would I Want To Pause Avast Antivirus?

Now, you may be wondering, “With all of the threats out there, why would I ever want to disable my Avast antivirus?”

Well, the truth is that your antivirus often does such a thorough job that it prevents you from downloading or using certain software and files that you may need to use. This is often the case with new programs that have yet to be entered into the Avast database or files downloaded via torrent.

Often, the antivirus program won’t recognize the file type or the program you’re trying to use (even if it’s 100% safe) and prevent you from using it. This can seriously disrupt your workflow or prevent you from downloading vital files that you may need to open.

Is It Safe To Disable My Antivirus?

Generally speaking, you never want to completely disable your antivirus. By completely disabling your antivirus software, you run the risk of your PC being infiltrated and having your identity stolen or worse.

That being said, it’s typically safe to temporarily disable or pause your Avast antivirus software. This will give you a short window of time that you can use to download or open the file that you need without having to worry about your antivirus program shutting it down before it has a chance to open, in the first place.

In the event that you do completely disable your antivirus software, make sure that you re-boot it ASAP so that your computer goes back to its protected status.

How To Pause Avast Antivirus: Step-by-Step

If you’re reading this post right now, then you’re probably trying to download or use a program that’s triggering your Avast antivirus to identify it as a threat. As annoying as this can be, you also have to consider that Avast might be doing this for a reason.

Before you disable or pause Avast, you should always double-check the file name with a quick Google search to ensure that the file isn’t a known virus or piece of malware.

Assuming that you’ve already verified the safety of the program or file you’re downloading or opening, though, here’s how to pause your Avast antivirus software so you can proceed.

1. Open Avast User Interface: First, find the little Avast icon in the bottom right-hand of your PC or Mac’s screen. Click on it to open the Avast user interface.

2. Navigate To Shields Control: Next, you’ll want to select ‘Core Shields’ from the icons above. This will display all of the active and inactive shields provided by your Avast antivirus software. You can choose to disable all of them or just disable the particular shield that’s causing problems for you.

3. Select The Duration Of Shield Disabling: When you disable each shield, Avast will prompt you with an “are you sure?” warning. It will also give you several options for disabling your shields: 10 minutes, 1 hour, until the next restart, or permanently.

We recommend selecting the 10-minute or 1-hour time duration for disabling your shields. This will give you the time you need to download or open the file without permanently leaving your device exposed to an attack.

4. Accept Warning and Attempt Action/Download Again: At this point, Avast might give you one final warning and prompt you to accept the risks of pausing your Avast software. Just follow the prompts and move along. Now, you should be able to download or use the file you need without any problems!

5. Turn Shields Back On: Once you’ve done what you needed to do, make sure that your shields are turned back on. If you selected a 10-minute or 1-hour pause duration, they should do this automatically, but it’s never a bad idea to double-check for safety!

Disabling Individual Shields vs. Disabling Avast Completely

Whenever possible, we recommend disabling or pausing certain individual shields instead of completely disabling all of your Avast shields. For example, if you’re just trying to download a file from the web, you could disable Avast’s Web Shield or File Shield, which would allow you to download the file, while still leaving your PC somewhat protected.

Conclusion

Overall, Avast is a great piece of antivirus software. When used in correlation with a solid, reliable VPN service, you’ll be secure against data network attacks and file/download-based attacks.

From time to time, you may need to pause your antivirus shields to complete a download or open a certain file/program. Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to do using the guide we provided above. Just make sure that you don’t get too carried away and forget to reboot your protection!

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