Webcam Shield

Access this feature from: Privacy ▸ Webcam Shield

Webcam Shield prevents applications and malware from accessing your PC's webcam without your consent. With Webcam Shield enabled, untrusted applications cannot capture images or videos and send the content outside of your PC to compromise your privacy.

Webcam Shield is enabled by default. To disable this feature, click the green ON slider so that it changes to red and displays the text OFF. We recommend keeping Webcam Shield enabled at all times.

Note: This feature is available in Avast Ultimate and Avast Premier only.

Adjust Webcam Shield behavior

To adjust how Webcam Shield handles applications that attempt to access your webcam, use the slider at the bottom of the screen to select an option:

  • Smart: automatically allows trusted applications to access your webcam. If an untrusted application attempts to access your webcam, a notification appears asking you to allow or block the application. After selecting an option, the application appears in either your list of Blocked or Allowed apps, where you can view the its status and define additional behavior.
  • Strict: notifies you each time any application attempts to access your webcam and allows you to decide if the application is blocked or allowed. After selecting an option, the application appears in either your list ofBlocked or Allowed apps, where you can view its status and define additional behavior.
  • No mercy: automatically blocks all applications that attempt to access your webcam.

Note: Webcam Shield determines trusted applications based on Avast Reputation Services, which reviews the application's certification information and analyzes how many users have the application installed.

Manage blocked and allowed applications

Click the gear icon on the Webcam Shield feature screen, then click View allowed / blocked apps to view a list of your Allowed / Blocked applications. To add an application to either list:

  1. Click +Block App or +Allow App.
  2. Select an application from the default list, or click Select App Path.
  3. Locate the application you want to add and click Open.
  4. Tick the box next to one or more features (Webcam Shield, Ransomware Shield, and Sensitive Data Shield) to indicate which feature(s) will block the selected app (the blocked app list) or allow the selected app (allowed apps list).
  5. Click ADD.

Your Blocked / Allowed apps lists are now updated. To modify an app in the list, hover your cursor over the relevant row and click …. From the menu that appears, select Change allowed features (allowed apps list), Change blocked features (blocked apps list), or Remove. Click the red X in the top-left corner to return to the Webcam Shield feature screen.

Troubleshoot issues

The following issues may occur:

  • Webcam Shield does not appear in the Privacy menu: ensure you are using the latest version of Avast Ultimate or Avast Premier. To update Avast, go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ General ▸Update and click Check For Updates in the application section.
    Note: This feature is not available in Avast Internet Security, Avast Pro Antivirus, or Avast Free Antivirus.
  • Webcam Shield displays popups too often: if you receive several notifications from Avast asking you to block or allow applications, ensure the slider that controls Webcam Shield behavior is set to Smart. If the slider is set to Strict, Avast notifies you each time any application attempts to access your PC's webcam.
  • Your PC's webcam stopped working: if your PC's webcam does not work after installing Avast Premier, ensure that the Webcam Shield behavior slider is set to Smart or Strict. If the slider is set to No Mercy, Webcam Shield prevents all applications from accessing your PC's webcam.