Avast Antivirus Removal

Background

For years, Avast has been a good choice for antivirus software. In 2017, Avast began using their software to broadcast somewhat misleading pop-up messages in an attempt to scare consumers into buying computer performance cleanup software and privacy VPN services, or upgraded versions of their security software. These messages were disruptive and caused confusion for some consumers who weren’t sure if the purchases were required or not. As a result, many tech consultants began suggesting other antivirus solutions.

Also in 2017, Microsoft released numerous security updates for Windows 10, including an improved version of Windows Defender — the free built-in antivirus software included with Windows. So, many people decided just to use the Microsoft security measures.

For those wanting more security, Malwarebytes released the 3.0 version of their popular software in recent months and it’s considered to be a good solution.

Avast Removal

If you’ve removed Avast using the Add/Remove programs option in Windows, it will no longer be listed as an installed program and won’t be listed in All Programs. However, like a virus, Avast software leaves remnants of itself hidden in the computer so that many months later, you’ll see a pop-up message from Avast encouraging you to purchase their software.

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There seems to be no simple way to remove this annoying message.

To remove the annoying Avast pop-up ads, you need to use the Avast removal tool found on their website Avast.com/uninstall-utility.

If you run this utility software, it will fully remove Avast.

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Avast AntiVirus for Mac Configuration for Apple Mail

If you’re using Avast AntiVirus for Mac and would like to use the Apple Mail program, you may notice a security certificate error when trying to access your email provider.

Avast has a 23 page document explaining how to correct this error.  The steps involve exporting a certificate from Avast and importing it into your mail client.

Alternative Option

If you don’t care about scanning inbound emails, you can enter your email server address as an exception and Avast won’t try to scan emails from that server. See the example below. To find this screen, open Avast, choose Preferences, then select settings for the Mail Shield. Press the + button to add your mail server.

STEP 1 – Open Avast

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 STEP 2 – CHOOSE PREFERENCES

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STEP 3 – ADD YOUR EMAIL SERVER

Replace the example below with your own email host. Use POP or IMAP as needed.

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