Scans

Run various scans to identify and protect your PC from security and performance threats. To run a scan, click the appropriate button or tile:

• Run Smart Scan: an all-in-one scan that detects malware, out-of-date software, browser add-ons with poor reputations, network threats, performance issues, and passwords that are weak, duplicated, or compromised. Read more...
• Full Virus Scan: a predefined, in-depth scan of your system that checks your storage drives and memory for malware (including rootkits). This scan may take several minutes or more depending on the number of files in your storage and the performance of your system. To modify this scan's parameters, click Settings beneath the Full Virus Scan tile. Read more...
• Targeted Scan: scans folders that you specify. After clicking the Targeted Scan tile, tick the folder you want to scan and click OK. To modify this scan's parameters, click Settings beneath the Targeted Scan tile. Read more...
• Explorer Scan: scans files or folders, similar to a Targeted Scan, but is conveniently available from the Windows context menu when you right-click a selected file or folder in your File Explorer or Desktop. Modify this scan's settings from the ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ Protection ▸ Scans. Read more...
• Boot-time Scan: scans your PC during the next system startup before any malware is launched. Scanning during startup improves the chances of detecting and removing malware before it can counteract. To modify this scan's parameters, click Settings beneath the Boot-time Scan tile. Read more...
• Custom scans: allows you to create and schedule your own scan. Click the Custom scans tile, then click Create a New Scan to define the parameters of your scan. Read more...

If Smart Scan detects any issues, click Resolve All, then click Resolve to go through and review each issue. To ignore an issue, click Skip This Step. Read more...

If Full Virus Scan, Targeted Scan, or a custom scan detects any issues, information about the detections and options to resolve them appear. Click the drop-down menu next to each detected issue and select an action, then click Resolve to initiate the selected action. Read more...

Note: More information about scan detections is available in your Scan history.

Click Scan history to open a log of previously run scans and their results. For each scan, you can see the following information:

• Name: the type of scan, for example, Quick Scan or Full Virus Scan.
• Date: the date and time when the scan was run.
• Result: information such as whether any malware was detected or if the scan was unable to analyze certain files.

Scans highlighted in red require your attention. Click Details in the relevant row, then click Detailed report to see information about the affected files including their location and actions applied for detected malware. You can also apply an action to unresolved detections. Read more...

If you suspect your PC is infected with malware and all other antivirus scans (including the Boot-time scan) were unable to resolve the issue, you can use Rescue Disk which enables you to scan your PC when your system is not running.

Click Rescue Disk to create a bootable USB drive or CD to restore your PC. Read more...

Occasionally, Avast may flag a file or program from an unknown source as dangerous when it is actually safe. This type of detection is known as a false-positive. If such detections occur, you can report false-positives to the Avast Threat Labs for closer examination. Additionally, if you are sure that a false-positive file is safe, you can add it to your scan exclusions in Settings ▸ Exclusions. Read more...

You can also submit false-positive files using the Quarantine.