Downloadable antivirus software free

Cyber Security. Smart Home. Answers to common questions. Antivirus Explore More Antivirus Solutions for your concerns. How To. Explore More How To. Ideas to keep you safe. Cyber Security parental control Safety for Kids. Avast is customizable and lets you make changes to everything from whether to make a sound when threats are detected and how long notifications should remain on the screen, to the kinds of file extensions that should be scanned. Here are some more features supported in this program: scheduled scans, custom scans that can check only the memory, rootkits, auto-start programs, etc.

Before Avast is installed, you have the option to include over a dozen different tools: file, behavior, web, and mail shields; software updater, browser cleaner, rescue disk, Wi-Fi inspector, security and SafePrice browser extensions; password manager; junk file cleaner; and Game Mode.

Technically, if you only want the antimalware protection, you can install just the shields from the start of that list; the others are add-ons that aren't necessary but could be helpful at some point. For example, the software updater is a nice tool that will not only check for and report outdated software but also install the newer versions for you even in bulk.

Wi-Fi Inspector scans the network for devices that could be vulnerable to attacks. For instance, it might identify that a computer is running a file sharing service that has been known to facilitate the spread of a certain kind of worm. You can install these tools it takes less than five minutes and then disable or completely remove them later.

Or, you can ignore them during setup and just install them later, or not at all. However, the password manager and Cleanup tools are only trial versions that will expire after a time-limited trial. There's also a firewall, file shredder, and sandbox feature that's unusable in this free version. Avast Free Antivirus is compatible with Windows 10, 8, and 7. See our comparison between Avast and Bitdefender to see which one might be better for you.

Resets browser home page and default search engine unless specifically deselected during installation. Panda Security's free antivirus program installs in minutes and has a minimal design like Bitdefender. However, even though it's not a CPU or memory hog, and doesn't appear to be customizable, all of its many options are tucked away in the program's settings. From there, you can do things like set up both on-demand and automatic scans to check compressed files and scan for potentially unwanted programs.

The automatic, permanent scanner includes some additional options, too, like behavioral and analysis scanning options, the ability to ask you before neutralizing a virus, and blocking files from running for so-many seconds until results on whether it's safe or harmful are obtained from the cloud. Something entirely unique to Panda Free Antivirus is its security news and alerts sections that can show you critical, warning, and informational messages like when a popular vendor experiences a data breach that could affect your personal information.

You can, however, turn those off if you want to. Complete a scan in just a few minutes if you only want to check for actively running threats, like browser cookies, processes, and things currently loaded in memory. However, there's also, of course, an option for a full system scan or a custom scan.

This software does a fantastic job at keeping the important buttons up front and hiding the additional options within menus so that you're not constantly bombarded with options or alerts.

However, the program will change your home page and the search provider in your web browser, unless you uncheck those options during the initial setup. The minimum operating system requirements for installing this program are Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, or XP. It should work equally well on Windows 11, too. AVG's free antivirus program is easy on the eyes and even easier to use. The scan button is right in the middle of the screen, turning features off is dead-simple, and all the advanced options are tucked away from view in the settings.

You can either install it and leave the settings alone to have regular protection, or go into the settings and make adjustments to nearly anything. Choose how to scan files— include only content that might include malware like executable data , only files that use a file extension considered potentially dangerous like EXE , or all files regardless of content type or file extension. Enable rootkit detection, hardcore mode, and CyberCapture technology, which helps detect threats in unrecognized files.

The program locates and eliminates virus, malware etc. I will be purchasing AVG to rid my new computer from unnecessary files. AVG is one of the best security ever used. But trial version is good for 30 days only. Laws concerning the use of this software vary from country to country. We do not encourage or condone the use of this program if it is in violation of these laws. In Softonic we scan all the files hosted on our platform to assess and avoid any potential harm for your device.

Our team performs checks each time a new file is uploaded and periodically reviews files to confirm or update their status. This comprehensive process allows us to set a status for any downloadable file as follows:. We have scanned the file and URLs associated with this software program in more than 50 of the world's leading antivirus services; no possible threat has been detected.

Based on our scan system, we have determined that these flags are possibly false positives. It means a benign program is wrongfully flagged as malicious due to an overly broad detection signature or algorithm used in an antivirus program. Do you recommend it?

Softonic review. Joe Wainer Updated 4 months ago. But if your device count gets into double digits, ESET's costs can add up. Sophos Home Premium does its job economically, offering reasonable protection from malware at an affordable price. Because it's spun off from Sophos' enterprise software for business clients, Sophos Home Premium lacks many of the bells and whistles other security suites offer, such as a password manager, identity theft protection service or VPN service.

What Sophos Home Premium does have is the essentials: ransomware rollbacks, webcam defenses and protection against keyloggers, malicious websites and boot-sector and fileless malware.

It also has a web-filter system for parents and an online management console from which you can tweak most of the settings. Some people might demand more from an antivirus suite, but anyone who would rather buy only what they need will appreciate Sophos Home Premium's just-the-basics approach.

Read our full Sophos Home Premium review. A good paid antivirus suite is a digital-protection jackknife, often bundling in parental controls, identity theft protection, a password manager, backup software, cloud storage, a firewall, a system optimizer and software for Mac, Android and iOS as well as Windows.

But what if you just want Windows antivirus software without all of those pricey extras? And what if you can't afford to pay for antivirus software? One of the best free antivirus programs might be exactly what you need. Free antivirus software used to be a step down from the paid software and involved trade-offs. The protection wasn't as good and you'd either have to put up with ads filling your screen or with constant nags to upgrade to a paid program.

That's all changed. Two of the best antivirus makers, Bitdefender and Kaspersky, offer free versions with the same excellent malware protections as their paid offerings. A merger between the biggest names in free antivirus, Avast and AVG, created a combined malware-detection engine that's much better than the sum of its parts.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's built-in antivirus software, Windows Defender, aka Microsoft Defender Antivirus, has gone from being a joke to being one of the best antivirus programs out there, free or paid. You can now get free antivirus protection that's as good as anything you pay for. So here are the best free antivirus programs based on their protection, system impact, ease of use and extra features. Kaspersky Security Cloud Free 2.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition 3. Windows Defender Antivirus 4. Avast Free Antivirus 5. Kaspersky Security Cloud Free Antivirus may be the best free antivirus program we've ever seen. It has excellent malware protection, a decent set of extra functions and features, and a system-performance impact so small that our computer actually sped up after we installed the program.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is still the best "set it and forget it" free antivirus option. If you need to put antivirus software on your grandparents' computer, or you don't want to think about it at all, this is the perfect solution. It's now one of the best antivirus programs altogether. You don't have to install or download it — it's already on your PC. If you want an unlimited password manager or a hardened web browser, Avast Free Antivirus might be for you.

Its malware protection is much better than it once was, although its performance impact is fairly heavy. Avast's stepsister AVG has the same malware-detection engine, but lacks Avast's full slate of useful extra features.

But it does have a file shredder and system optimizer. We have to mention one program that's not antivirus software, but which we recommend anyway: Malwarebytes Free.

While antivirus tries to stop malware from infecting your machine, Malwarebytes functions as the cleanup crew, sweeping out less-harmful adware or potentially unwanted programs that the antivirus software ignores. It works well alongside any antivirus program. Kaspersky doesn't talk much about its free antivirus product, and you might have a hard time finding the free Kaspersky software download page on the company's website. That's too bad, because Kaspersky Security Cloud Free is the best free antivirus product we've ever tested.

We've never seen such a combination of excellent protection and extra features in a free antivirus program. It's got a bright, comprehensible interface, a lot of customization potential and Kaspersky's unbeatable malware protection.

The program also lets you schedule scans, and its performance impact was so small that it actually sped up our test machine a bit. Kaspersky's useful extra features include a file shredder, an on-screen keyboard and an email scanner. The password manager and VPN service are fairly limited, however, unless you pay. Read our full Kaspersky Security Cloud Free review.

Compared to premium paid antivirus programs that are big, heavy and loaded with extra bells and whistles, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition is like a '60's sports car, stripped to the essentials but still providing plenty of power. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition offers nothing but the basics. There's no password manager, no gaming mode, no quick scans and no scan scheduling. You can manage the software from the program's System Tray icon, but you don't really need to interact with Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition after its installation.

Yet Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition has the excellent Bitdefender malware-detection engine, which sits just below Kaspersky and Norton in the lab-test rankings. It's the best free antivirus software if you want a security solution that you can set up and then forget about.

It's also perfect if you need to protect the computer of an elderly relative but don't have time to manage antivirus software from afar.

Read our full Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition review. Microsoft's built-in antivirus software is now a heavy hitter. While Windows Defender, aka Microsoft Defender Antivirus, doesn't quite beat Norton or Kaspersky in malware-protection lab tests, it comes out ahead of Avast, AVG and most other free antivirus products while operating almost entirely behind the scenes.

In short, our recommendations are here as firm guidance, but modify these appropriately based on your individual requirements. For more thoughts on this, check out our article exploring how to choose the best antivirus. An antivirus app sits on your device like a guard dog, watching over the entire system and sniffing out any intruders malware , or indeed anything suspicious. In short, it offers real-time defenses against viruses or other threats, which if detected are immediately dealt with, preventing them from carrying out their destructive payload.

As well as this automated protection, you can run manual virus scans whenever you wish. Think of these as the fingerprints of malware, and if something is spotted coming onto your system that has a matching fingerprint, the antivirus leaps into action, quarantining the offender. For more details on this topic, see our full breakdown of exactly how antivirus software works.

A good free antivirus — like the ones we recommend on this page below — is a perfectly reasonable option for protecting your PC. That said, premium antivirus programs offer extra features above and beyond the fundamentals. A robust system of parental controls could be a huge win for those with kids, for example.

Or a dedicated anti-ransomware layer of protection that only comes with the paid-for product could help catch one of the most dreaded infections and halt it in its tracks. For more on this, read our full piece on whether free antivirus is enough to protect you. Or just keep scrolling as we reveal today's best free antivirus software providers Paying for a premium service means you get more features like spam filters, parental controls, system scans and advanced firewalls.

This makes them more suitable for power users, those who want a bit of extra security and anyone who needs their system to run as smoothly as possible. It also means you avoid annoying pop-ups that try and tempt you to upgrade to the full version. In fact, these days you can get top quality protection absolutely free, with just about every single major vendor out there offering a free antivirus. Windows has come a long way in terms of security, but it's still fair to say that Windows 10's built-in solution, Windows Defender, is the last free AV app you should trust to keep your system clean.

Avira Free Antivirus is today's best free security download If you're determined to get free antivirus, we strongly suggest that you go for our pick of best security downloads - Avira Free Antivirus. We've highlighted its long list of features below, together with information on how well it performs at independent testing labs. A very impressive freebie. That's pretty good for a freebie, and why we have no qualms at all in naming it as our 1 best free antivirus download. As well as the essential security smarts, we also love the clean, friendly interface and the fact it has a track record of throwing up minimal false positives.

In fact, the list of features reads more like a fully paid premium package. It throws in identity protection, a password manager, anti-scam protection to prevent phishing attempts, and even a PC cleaner to keep your system spick and span. If there's one thing we'd change then it's the tad overeager badgering - although popups and advertisements are very common to free products, and that doesn;t prevent us from wholeheartedly recommending Avira Free Antivirus.

Review and where to download: Avira Free Antivirus. Essentially consisting of the AV section of the full product, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition's clean, light, well constructed scanning mechanisms — which are almost universally faster than the industry average — and unrivalled virus definitions mean Bitdefender is a free antivirus force to be reckoned with.

The free version's insistence on running in autopilot mode is a double-edged sword, making the process of virus management easy but taking it out of the user's hands; while we're inclined to trust it, there have been cases in the past of automatic systems going slightly rogue, such as the incident a few years back when Panda Antivirus identified itself as a virus and locked up a large number of Windows systems. Review and where to download: Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition.

The paid-for version of Kaspersky's Windows security software frequently tops charts of best virus prevention solutions and AV-TEST once again gave it full marks across the board in its latest round of testing. As you would expect, Kaspersky Free is a scaled down version of the full program - a tool that we really like more on which below. The free version ditches additional features such as privacy protection and safe payment sandboxes to concentrate on powerful, no-frills and - most importantly - free protection for your PC.

The result is a tremendously easy to use and navigate bit of software that does an effective job of keeping you protected from viruses. Using the nuts and bolts real-world scanning engine of the paid-for suite, Kaspersky Free is fiendishly hard for viruses and trojan horses to break down. And we love that it doesn't constantly pester you with nudges to upgrade to the full version. But, ironically, we will just for a moment, because Kasperksy Anti-Virus isn't expensive to buy and yet affords much better protection to your PC or PCs.