Web Shield - Main settings

Manage these settings at: Menu ▸ Settings (gear icon) ▸ Active Protection ▸ Web Shield ▸ Customize ▸ Main settings

The Web Shield protects you from harmful content on the Internet.

Enable Web scanning

When enabled, the Web Shield scans all content on websites you visit while browsing the web. You can uncheck this box to turn off web scanning while URL blocking (see below) remains active.

  • Warn when downloading files with poor reputation - An alert is displayed when a file with poor ratings from the Avast community is being downloaded.
  • Scan traffic from well-known browser processes only - Checking this option reduces security slightly, but can resolve conflicts with non-browser programs that you trust which are blocked when trying to access the internet.

Enable HTTPS scanning

Sites with HTTPS encryption are scanned.

  • Scan HTTPS for well-known programs only - Only activity used by well-known programs is scanned. This option can resolve conflicts with some programs which use HTTPS encryption that are blocked by the Web Shield.


Use intelligent stream scanning - Avast scans files during the download process. Packets of data are scanned as they are downloaded. If this feature is disabled, the whole file is downloaded to a temporary folder and scanned.

Do not scan trusted sites - Sites with SSL certificates are not scanned.

Block malware URLs - Block websites based on a database of known malware URLs.

Script scanning - Block malicious scripts from the web and other sources, including encrypted transfers via HTTPS connections.