Exclusions

It is possible to exclude certain locations, or even single files, from scanning, which means they will not be checked for viruses during any scan. This may be useful for the following reasons:

  • To avoid false alarms – if the program reports a virus infection in a file and you are sure it is a false alarm, you can exclude the file from further scans and avoid further false alarms. However, please notify AVAST Software of the problem in order that it can be fixed.
  • To speed up processing – if you have a folder on your hard disk that contains images only, you can exclude it from scanning which will reduce the overall scanning time.

Keep in mind that any exclusions specified here apply to all on-demand scans (manual and scheduled). If you want to exclude files only from a specific manual or scheduled scan, use the Exclusions page in the scan settings. To exclude files only from being scanned by any of the real-time shields, use the Exclusions page in the real-time shield expert settings.

To exclude a location or file, first click the box where it says <enter path> and then either type the location or file to be excluded, or alternatively, click the “Browse” button, check the box next to the location or file to be excluded, then click “ok”.

If you want to exclude a folder, including all of its sub-folders, it is necessary to add “\*” to the end of the folder name e.g. C:\Windows\*.

To remove a location or a file from the exclusions list, click on it once to select it, then click the “delete” button.

Exclusions