Scan results

On the Scan Results screen you can specify an action to take if none was taken automatically based on the scan settings. Click the drop-down menu in the Action column to view options:

• Fix automatically - Run a sequence of actions (repair file; if not possible, then move to Virus Chest; if not possible, then delete).
• Move to Chest (recommended) - Send the threat to the Virus Chest where it cannot harm your system.
• Repair - Remove only malicious code attached to an otherwise safe file; this is not possible for files which are entirely malware.
• Delete - Permanently remove the file from your computer.
• No action - Avast does nothing to the file.

To apply the same action to all files, select the required action from the list at the bottom of the screen.

Click Apply to carry out selected actions.

The completed action is shown in the result column.

If you do not want to act now, select Do nothing and close the screen. You can return to this screen later by clicking Scan History.

Sometimes the Results column shows a warning or error message. This does not necessarily mean the file contains a threat.

• Archive file is password protected - Some programs use password-protected archives to store their data even if you did not set the password. The content of the archive cannot be scanned but the "wrapper" file is scanned.
• Archive file is corrupted - A file can be corrupted when it was only partially downloaded, or it is special type of archive (in this case the "wrapper" file is scanned).
• Memory detections - a detection in Process X, memory block Y, Block size Z means that a virus signature was found in the system memory but not in a file. In most cases this is caused by running another security program, but it could also be a virus. Therefore it is recommended to first check that there is no other antivirus software installed, and then run a Boot-time scan.

Avast may occasionally identify a file or program from an unknown source as dangerous when it is actually safe. If this occurs, you can report a false positive to the Avast Virus Lab for closer examination. Meanwhile if you are sure that the file is safe you can add it to exclusions in Settings ▸ Exclusions.