Sometimes Avast Antivirus may be blocking you from running a program or accessing a web page, which you know is totally safe. Usually, it’s because of the low application occurrence within the Avast community. Therefore, Avast can’t properly tell if the program is safe or not, and will try to protect you.

How To Stop Avast For Mac From Scanning Web Sites

Free Antivirus for Mac is based on the new avast! 7 antivirus engine, already used by over 150 million active users. The new app provides Mac users with three defensive shields: the Web and Mail Shields for incoming data and the File Shield to scan the user’s hard drive. Avast/Lukas ‘s “fix” was to get rid of the bug and then hide the function by removing the option to turn off HTTPS scanning. In other words Avast now forces you to accept HTTPS scanning. This is Avast’s answer to bad criticism of a program feature. Force it on the user and then hide the fact that it’s there. Malware isn’t the only threat to your Mac. Malicious websites and vulnerable Wi-Fi networks can also jeopardize your safety. Full Mac Scan. Run an in-depth scan of your entire Mac to root out hidden malware. Stop ransomware cold. Avast Security Pro walls off your photos and files from ransomware attack to ensure that none of your most.

Also, Avast detects so-called ‘Potentially Unwanted Programs‘, which are actually wanted in some cases, and so-called ‘False-Positives‘, which means the program is safe but Avast’s detection is wrong. Unfortunately this often happens with popular games and services like League of Legends (LoL), Steam, GoG Galaxy, Minecraft, uTorrent, BitTorrent, Windows Update, Google, Java, Chrome and other launchers which are being often updated. Usually the false-positive detection lasts only a few hours, but can be very annoying.

Quick Summary

There are various ways to which you can stop Avast from blocking websites and can use those sites thoroughly without any interference. Disable the Module Disabling the module is the simplest way to prevent avast blocking websites or visit a blocked site. Jul 03, 2017 Avast, a complete security solution for your device that is designed specially to keep away all sorts of malicious threats and viruses.

Make sure the blocked file or webpage is not malicous by testing it at www.virustotal.com
Add it as exception by going to Avast user interface » Settings » General » Exclusions
Confirm by clicking OK

Read more detailed steps and other options including screenshots below.

When Avast blocks something, you will always get a pop-up notification informing you about the threat.

Solution/Fix for the Invalid Certificate Issue Caused by the HTTPS Scan

Recently a lot of Avast users (especially the ones running Windows XP) are experienced an issue when Avast has been blocking several major websites because of the invalid cloudflaressl.com certificate. The full message on the pop-up is ‘Avast Web Shield has blocked access to this page because the following certificate is invalid: [name of the certificate]‘.

To fix this try one of the following actions:

Disable HTTPS scanning by going to settings » Active Protection » Web Shield » Customize » Main settings » Un-check ‘Enable HTTPS scanning‘ and restart your computer

Disabling HTTPS Scanning in Avast 2018 Web Shield Settings

Solution/Fix When Avast is Blocking Internet Connection Completely

Sometimes Avast may even block completely the Internet access so user is not able to visit any website. If this happens to you, try one of the following actions:

Repair your Avast installation by going to Programs » Uninstall a program » Avast » select Repair and restart your computer
Disable HTTPS scanning by going to settings » Active Protection » Web Shield » Customize » Main settings » Un-check ‘Enable HTTPS scanning‘ and restart your computer

Solution/Fix When Avast is Blocking Specific Website, Program or Game

There are two ways to unblock any program or website from Avast blocking. Please note, you should do it only if you are 100% sure the blocked file is safe for you and your computer. Even if you own the blocked site, doesn’t mean it wasn’t hacked and injected with dangerous malware. For checking the program/file with other Antivirus vendors, you can use online detection at VirusTotal.

Avast

1. Add Blocked Program or Website to Exclusion List (Whitelist) to Unblock it

Using the exceptions in Avast you can simply add any file or URL to the list of exclusions and exclude it from scanning and shield protection, therefore also from blocking. For more information about adding exceptions, check our full guide ‘How to Add File/Website Exception into Avast Antivirus 2018‘.

Adding File/Folder/Program/Website URL Exception into Avast 2018

2. Temporarily Turn Off Avast Protection

If you want install or run a program but it’s being blocked by Avast you can simply turn off Avast shields for a short period of time. For more information about turning off Avast or it’s shields, check our full guide ‘How to Turn Off (Pause, Disable) Shields in Avast Antivirus 2018‘.

Temporarily Disabling Avast Protection from the Windows Tray

3. Report a False Positive Detection to Avast

We also strongly suggest to report the detection you believe is a false positive directly to Avast team. They will look into it and eventually confirm the reported file, software, or website is clean.

Link to report is included on every in-product pop-up displayed when the harmful webpage or file is blocked. Just click on ‘Report the file as a false positive‘.

Avast Web Shield Has Blocked a Harmful Webpage or File Pop-up

Then you need to fill-in following simple form. In the additional info you can add a link from VirusTotal scan. Don’t forget to check the option ‘I know what I’m doing‘ and click on ‘Submit‘.

Avast In-product Form for Reporting False Positive Detection of Files or Websites

Alternatively you can use the official web form for reporting false positive detection.

Official Avast Web Form for Reporting False Positive Detection of Files or Websites

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).

Managing exceptions or turning off Avast protection may leave your computer at risk.

Active2 years, 4 months ago

Just today, I went onto google chrome and began using normal websites such as Google drive. However, the moment I went to these sites, my Mac began showing Avast popups to the side that said :

They keep popping up, and only stop once I quit google chrome. Is there any solution to this? Is this a false positive that avast often reports?

dinoboydinoboy

2 Answers

It seems like you are not the only one. Other people have reported similar or identical problems.It appears that an update issued today has fixed this problem.

Please try to update your install of Avast and see if it fixes the issue.

Avast For Mac Antivirus Free Download 2016

EDIT : DO NOT RUN A FULL SYSTEM SCAN! PEOPLE HAVE REPORTED IT HAS CORRUPTED THEIR SYSTEMS!

MiaoHatolaMiaoHatola

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How To Stop Avast For Mac From Scanning Web Sites