Our laptops and desktop computers are, today, entrusted with trillions and trillions of gigabytes worth of data and information, including sentimental and sensitive stuff, such as photographs, receipts, invoices, passwords, videos, music. Things you will either always need, or always want to have access to. Losing these things thanks to your computer becoming infected with a virus is just not an eventuality you ever want to have to face, though I’m sure as I’m writing this that many of us out there will have, at some point in our lives, been the victim of some such virus.
Thankfully, there is a whole host of reputable, inexpensive (or free!), and professional-grade antivirus software on the market, all of which is relatively straightforward to download and use. In fact, most modern PCs come with antivirus software already installed – either as a free trial courtesy of the manufacturer or as part of a package deal you signed up for when purchasing your computer.
Avast Antivirus is one such piece of software that Windows users especially might well find pre-installed on their new computer. It may also simply be the most reputable and affordable piece of antivirus software you could find, and so you now have it downloaded, installed, and up-and-running.
Well, as the nature of antivirus software is so important, it is not always clear (or easy) to work out how to temporarily turn it off. Fear not, however, because just by following a few simple instructions, you can temporarily disable Avast Antivirus in order to suit any number of situations.
Table of Contents
How to Temporarily Disable Avast Antivirus from the taskbar
- From the Desktop of your computer (or from any page) locate the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen, and if you have Avast Antivirus pinned to the taskbar, right-click it. If you do not, then click the upwards-pointing arrow to the right of the Taskbar, locate the Avast Antivirus icon and right-click it.
- From the pop-up menu, click Avast shields control. This will bring up a list of options.
- You may now choose to temporarily disable Avast Antivirus for either 10 minutes, for 1 hour, until the computer is restarted, or permanently. Since this tutorial focuses on how to temporarily disable Avast Antivirus, I recommend you select one of the first three options. Click the most appropriate option.
- Avast Antivirus will now show you a warning screen, reminding you of the importance of antivirus protection. To continue with temporarily disabling the software, click ‘Yes’.
- You have now successfully disabled Avast Antivirus for the duration of time selected. If you wish to turn Avast Antivirus back on before the time selected has elapsed, simply navigate into the Avast Antivirus app and where it says “All shields are off” click the green Resolve button which should manually re-enable your antivirus software
How to Temporarily Disable Avast Antivirus in the app
- From your PC’s Start menu or Desktop, open the Avast Antivirus app by selecting the app from your list of programmes, or by clicking the app’s icon on the computer Desktop.
- In the top-right of the app’s screen, click the Menu icon (three horizontal bars)
- From the Menu sidebar on the right, select Settings
- On the left of the screen, select Protection (the icon is a padlock)
- Now navigate to Core Shields and toggle the function from green ‘ON’ to grey ‘OFF’
- You will be asked how long you wish to toggle your Core Shields off for – 10 minutes, 1 hour, until your computer restarts, or permanently. Since this tutorial focuses on how to temporarily disable Avast Antivirus, I recommend you select one of the first three options. Select the most appropriate option.
- You will be asked if you are sure you wish to continue, click ‘OK STOP’
- You have now successfully disabled Avast Antivirus for the duration of time selected. If you wish to turn Avast Antivirus back on before the time selected has elapsed, simply navigate into the Avast Antivirus app and where it says “All shields are off” click the green Resolve button which should manually re-enable your antivirus software
Note: In the Avast Antivirus app, there are options to disable (temporarily or otherwise) not just all Core Shields, but also individual shields. These options are worth exploring, since they will keep your computer safer, whilst only temporarily disabling the Avast Antivirus shields which you need disabled, in order to complete whichever task it is you wish to complete. For example, if Avast Antivirus is only stopping you from accessing a website, then I would consider only temporarily disabling the Web Shield by navigating through instructions 1-4 above, and then in the Core Shields window, scrolling down until you reach Configure shield settings. From there you can choose which shield(s) to temporarily disable, rather than disabling them all at once.
And there you have it! Whilst it is advisable to keep your antivirus software on at all times, there are many different scenarios in which it is actually preferable to temporarily disable the software. By following the above instructions, never again will you have a problem temporarily disabling Avast Antivirus.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I want to disable my antivirus temporarily?
Here’s the thing, though. As absolutely necessary to your computer’s health and the protection of your sensitive files as antivirus software is, it is not always useful to have the software active at all times. In fact, it is quite common for users of antivirus software to face many scenarios in which it would be advantageous to turn off the software temporarily. For example, you may wish to download an item from the internet which your antivirus software has prohibited. Perhaps you have purchased new software, and wish to turn the old stuff off for the time being. Maybe you need access to a specific site and need Avast Antivirus to be turned off, just for the duration of your visit to said site.
