Virus Chest

Access this feature from: Protection ▸ Virus Chest

Virus Chest is an isolated space where you can safely store potentially dangerous files or send them to the Avast Threat Labs for analysis. Files in the Virus Chest cannot run or access your system and data, so any malicious code contained within a file is unable to harm your PC.

Avast performs a series of actions that may result in moving a file to the Virus Chest automatically. By default, files are moved to the Virus Chest in the following situations:

If you run a predefined antivirus scan and it detects a suspicious file.
If an active Core Shield detects a suspicious file.

Note: you can also access the Virus Chest feature by right-clicking the Avast icon in your system tray and selecting Virus Chest. From the Virus Chest feature screen you can manually move files to the Virus Chest.

Add or manage Virus Chest files

To manually move a file to Virus Chest, click Add File..., select the file, then click Open.

To remove the file from Virus Chest, tick the box next to the file. Click the Delete button to permanently remove the file from Virus Chest, or click the downward facing arrow next to the button to access the following options:

Restore: moves the file from Virus Chest to its original location.
Extract: moves the file from Virus Chest to a location you choose.
Send for analysis: sends files to the Avast Threat Labs for further analysis.

Submit files to the Avast Threat Labs

We recommend sending the following file types to the Avast Threat Labs:

Potential malware: files that Avast has not flagged as malware, but you believe may be malicious.
False positive: files that Avast has identified as malware, but you believe may be clean.

To submit a file to the Avast Threat Labs:

Ensure that the file has been added to the Virus Chest (either manually or by Avast).
Click the downward facing arrow next to Delete and select Send for analysis.
Provide the requested information about the file, then click Send.

The file is submitted to the Avast Threat Labs for further testing. In most cases, the Avast Threat Labs processes the files they receive without sending a response to you.

Manage Virus Chest settings

To manage Virus Chest settings, click the Settings (gear icon) in the top-right corner of the Virus Chest feature screen. Alternatively, go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ Protection ▸ Virus Chest.

In the Virus Chest settings, you can specify the maximum size of your Virus Chest. Read more...