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Nov 10, 2023 · Open your device’s settings. Navigate to the Applications menu, locate the antivirus app you want to turn off, and then tap on it. Click “Force Close” to turn the antivirus off. For Android version 8.0 or higher, each antivirus app has a permanent notification running in the background.
Apr 16, 2024 · If you want to turn off your antivirus permanently or temporarily, you can do it through the antivirus app, your device or your browser. In this guide, we will walk you through several ways to...
- Overview
- Windows Security
- Avast for Windows
- Avast for Mac
- AVG for Windows
- AVG for Mac
- Norton for Windows
- Norton for Mac
Multiple ways to turn off Windows Security, Avast, AVG, and Norton on Windows and Mac computers
Since your antivirus program protects your computer from dangerous viruses and malware, you really shouldn't disable it without a good reason. If it's causing you trouble or affecting how an app you need installs or runs, you can usually disable it—however, you should reenable it as soon as you can. This wikiHow teaches you how to temporarily disable some of the most popular antivirus apps for Windows and macOS.
Virus protection software makes sure that your computer is safe, so turning it off exposes your machine to dangerous malware and viruses.
You can usually turn off the computer's default anti-virus software in Settings.
You can do this by clicking the gear icon in the Windows menu or by pressing the
key at the same time.
Use this method to disable Windows 10's built-in antivirus protection.
There is no way to disable the Windows built-in antivirus protection permanently. It will automatically turn back on after an undisclosed amount of time.
It's the icon of two curved arrows.
It's in the left panel.
Right-click the Avast icon in the system tray.
The system tray is the area near the clock, which is usually at the bottom-right corner of the screen. The Avast icon is an orange splat with a small "a" at its center. A menu will expand.
If you don't see this icon, click the up-arrow to the left of the icons beside the clock to expand more.
You can choose to disable antivirus protection for 10 minutes, 1 hour, until you restart the computer, or permanently. Once you select an option, a confirmation message will appear.
Antivirus protection is now disabled.
You can reactivate Avast early by returning to this menu and choosing the option to turn it back on.
Open Avast on your Mac.
You'll find it in your Applications folder and on the Launchpad.
It's the tile with a shield icon.
It's in the upper-right corner of the window.
Remove the checkmarks from each of the boxes.
Avast's "shields" are the things protecting you from viruses and malware in real time. To disable this protection, you'll need to disable each shield's features.
Right-click the AVG icon in the system tray.
The system tray is the area near the clock, and that's typically at the bottom-right corner of the screen. The icon is a yellow, blue, red, and green patchwork square.
If you don't see this icon, click the up-pointing arrow left of the other icons near the clock to expand more.
Disabling AVG is temporary, as it will automatically reactivate next time you restart your computer. If you want to permanently disable the software you must uninstall it.
Click the "Protection is on" switch.
If AVG is active right now, this will pop-up a warning asking if you really want to disable Avast.
Open AVG on your Mac.
You'll find it in your Applications folder and on the Launchpad.
There is no way to temporarily disable AVG on your Mac. The only way to stop AVG is to uninstall it. This method will cover uninstalling AVG properly.
It's at the top of the screen.
A confirmation message will appear.
This will start the process of removing AVG from your Mac.
Right-click the Norton icon in the system tray.
The system tray is the area near the clock, and that's typically at the bottom-right corner of the screen. The icon is a yellow, black, and white checkmark. A menu will expand.
This opens the "Security Request" window.
You can disable antivirus protection for any of the specified amounts of time. After that time elapses, virus protection will start again automatically.
This turns of Norton antivirus protection.
Return to this menu to reactivate Norton at any time.
Open Norton on your Mac.
You'll find it in the Applications folder and on the launchpad.
If opening Norton first displays the "My Norton" window, click
next to "Device Security" to open the app.
The option you see depends on your version of Norton.
It's in the left panel.
Apr 2, 2008 · It is typically quite safe to disable your anti-virus for the duration of an installation, as long as a) you don’t do something else during the install (like surf the net, download files, and so on), and b) you turn it back on when the installation is done.
May 17, 2018 · To disable the main Antivirus shield, open the program and click on the hamburger button at the upper left side of your screen. Then go to Protection -> View Features -> Antivirus Settings (On the Settings icon of the Antivirus module) -> Shield, and turn off Bitdefender Shield.
Mar 14, 2019 · Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings (or Virus & threat protection settings in previous versions of Windows 10). Switch Real-time protection to Off.
Apr 24, 2020 · The easiest way to turn off Windows Defender on a Windows 10 PC is to use the Settings app. There’s an option that allows you to disable real-time protection which is equal to turning the service off.
