Managing HTTPS scanning in Web Shield in Avast Antivirus HTTPS scanning is a component of Web Shield in Avast Antivirus. HTTPS scanning protects your PC against malware delivered by TLS and SSL encrypted HTTPS traffic when you browse the web.
Once in a while, you’ll probably need to turn off your Avast Antivirus, or just pause some of its shields. Usually, because you want to install some other party security software like a firewall, or because Avast is blocking your favorite website or application.
OUR TIP If you want to disable Avast because it’s blocking program or website you trust, we suggest using the Avast Exceptions/White-list instead.
Here’s the quick step-by-step guide on how to turn off/disable Avast 2019 – completely or temporarily. Steps are applicable to all Avast antivirus products (Free Antivirus, Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, or Avast Premier).
Quick Summary
Right-click on the Avast orange icon in the Windows system tray
Select Avast shields control and select for how long you want to disable it
Confirm by clicking Yes on the dialog
Read more detailed steps and other options including screenshots below
Turning off all Avast shields basically means completely turning off the whole Avast Antivirus active protection. So be sure you know what you’re doing, although it’s actually quite simple.
Step #1 – Just navigate to the Windows taskbar and find the orange Avast icon. By default it is hidden in some Windows systems, so click on the top arrow if you don’t see it. Once you find the icon, perform a right-click on it, look for the option ‘Avast shields control‘, and select one of the options there – disable for a) 10 minutes; b) 1 hour; c) until computer restart; d) permanently.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Completely via Windows System Tray
Step #2 – Whatever option you will choose, Avast will ask you for a confirmation, which you have to confirm by selecting ‘Yes‘. And that’s it, Avast and all its shields should be disabled/paused for whatever time period you have selected.
Step #3 – If you want to make sure Avast is really disabled, just open its main window. It should be red and saying ‘All antivirus shields are off‘. To re-enable it again, click on the green button ‘RESOLVE‘, and it should turn green with the message ‘You’re protected‘.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Completely – User Interface
Besides turning off all shields at once, Avast also offers an option to temporarily turn off/pause any specific shield. Again, be sure you know what and why you’re doing it.
Step #1 – If so, then open the main Avast user interface, and go to Protection » Core Shields. Alternatively, you can go to Settings (in the bottom left corner in the main Avast interface) » ‘Components’ (or ‘Active Protection‘ in the older version). There you will see all Avast shields (File System Shield, Behavior Shield, Mail Shield, Web Shield) listed.
Disabling Avast Antivirus 2019 Specific Shields – Shields Overview
Just find the one you want to disable and click on the switcher. Once you click on it, you will see four options – stop the shield for a) 10 minutes; b) 1 hour; c) until computer restart; d) permanently. Just select the period you want and click on it.
Step #2 – If the shield has been successfully disabled, you should see the switch change to ‘OFF‘ and the main window should be yellow with the message ‘File Shield is now off‘. To re-enable it again, simply click on the green ‘Turn on‘ button, and it should turn green with the message ‘You’re protected‘.
Avast Antivirus 2019 File Shield Turned Off
3. Uninstall Avast Antivirus Completely
If none of these steps solved your problem, then you can consider uninstalling Avast Antivirus completely. Although we strongly discourage it, as Avast is the best free Antivirus available.
If you’re sure you want to do it, follow our step-by-step guide ‘How to Uninstall/Remove Avast Antivirus 2019‘ or download the simple removal tool called Avast Uninstall Utility.
Additional Notes
Although we have used Avast Free Antivirus 2019 screenshots in this article, these steps are also applicable for all Avast Antivirus solutions (i.e. also for Avast Pro Antivirus, Avast Internet Security, or Avast Premier) running the latest version available.
Steps are relevant for all Windows versions – Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (including Anniversary Update).
Turning off Avast protection may leave your computer at risk.
Manage these settings from: Settings ▸ Troubleshooting
The Troubleshooting screen allows you to change the default settings to troubleshoot potential Avast Antivirus functionality and compatibility issues.
We recommend to keep the default configuration. Only change these settings if you have an advanced understanding of Avast Antivirus functionality, or if Avast Support representatives request you to make changes for troubleshooting purposes. After making any changes, click OK to save your settings.
Note: For other troubleshooting information, refer to the Getting Started page.
Enable rootkit scan on system startup: scans for rootkits when you boot your PC, before most applications and services are loaded. This option is enabled by default to ensure maximum protection. Unticking this option may slightly speed up startup but weaken your antivirus protection.
Enable raw disk access during Avast boot-time scan: enables Avast boot-time scan to access and scan entire disk space, including dropped files and file fragments that may contain malicious code. This option is enabled by default. Unticking this option may slightly speed up boot-time scans but weaken your antivirus protection.
Skip checking of digital signatures of infected files: enables Avast to report all files as suspicious even if they are from trusted publishers, which can speed up the scanning process. However, this option is disabled by default to avoid false positive detections which ensures that trusted files with valid digital signatures are not identified as malware and consequently deleted.
Enable Avast self-defense module: prevents all critical Avast Antivirus files from being modified or deleted. This option is enabled by default. Unticking this option may enable attackers to modify or delete antivirus files to disable your antivirus protection and infect your PC. Note: Only untick temporarily at the request of Avast Support representatives for specific troubleshooting purposes.
Load Avast services only after loading other system services: delays Avast Antivirus from loading until all other system services are loaded which can speed up the PC startup process but simultaneously makes your system temporarily unsecured against malware. This option is disabled by default to allow Avast services to load in the beginning of the startup process which ensures the full security of your PC.
Limit program access for Guest account: restricts guest users (secondary accounts logged in to your PC) from accessing or modifying your Avast settings. This option is enabled by default to ensure only authorized users have this permission. Unticking this option allows all users (accounts) to access or modify settings.
Enable hardware-assisted virtualization: improves the performance of virtualization. Avast uses hardware virtualization in anti-rootkit, Sandbox, self-defense, and CyberCapture components. This option is ticked by default. If Avast detects another virtualization software on your PC, it automatically disables this option. If Avast is not able to recognize virtualization software installed on your PC, and you encounter performance or compatibility issues, we recommend temporarily unticking this option.
Passive Mode disables all active protection, such as Shields and Firewall, so that you can use more than one antivirus program at a time without interfering with the performance of your PC or the reliability of antivirus detections. In Passive Mode, Avast receives all virus definition and program updates which allow you to manually run scans to check for issues on your PC, however Avast does not actively protect you.
This feature is disabled by default, unless you install Avast on a PC with another antivirus program installed. To manually activate Passive Mode, click the OFF slider so that it changes to ON. Then, click OK and Restart now to confirm your changes.
If you want Avast Antivirus to actively protect you from malware and other security threats, ensure that Passive Mode is turned off and the following conditions are met:
All third party antivirus programs are uninstalled.
The main screen of Avast Antivirus displays the text You are protected.
Note: If Avast is the only antivirus software installed on your PC, only activate Passive Mode temporarily for specific troubleshooting purposes.
For troubleshooting purposes, you may want to restore your Avast Antivirus settings to the original values. Follow these steps to restore Avast Antivirus default settings:
Tick the following option(s) to select the set of settings you want to restore:
Program settings (including default scans): refers to all program settings except Shield settings.
Shield settings: refers to Shield settings only. Modifying Shield settings may affect your protection status.
Click Reset now to restore your settings.
Reset now removes all of your custom settings. This action cannot be undone.
Note: You can back up your settings in Settings ▸ Back up settings before you restore factory defaults. Read more...
If you experience issues sending or receiving emails when using Mail Shield with an email client (such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird), you can troubleshoot by specifying the ports used by your email provider in the Mail section.
By default, standard port numbers are specified for each protocol as listed below:
SMTP port(s):
25,857
Secure port(s):
465
POP port(s):
110
Secure port(s):
995
IMAP port(s):
143
Secure port(s):
993
NNTP port(s):
119
Secure port(s):
563
If you or your email provider use different ports, type them into the text boxes next to the appropriate protocols to ensure that your emails are monitored by Avast. Use commas to separate multiple port numbers.
In the Ignored addresses text box, type the addresses of any servers or ports that you want to exclude from scanning, for example, smtp.example.com. If necessary, separate multiple addresses with commas.
When ticked, the Ignore local communication option prevents Avast from scanning internal system communication between applications running on your PC. This option is ticked by default. Unticking this option configures Avast to scan all email communication, which increases security but may slow down the performance of your system.