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Editors independently select and review products. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn a commission, which helps support our testing.

Neil J. Rubenking Neil J. Rubenking Principal Security Analyst My Experience When the IBM PC first appeared, I was president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met the editorial team who brought me in in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become an expert in security, privacy, and identity protection, including antivirus tools, security suites, and more. Various security software goes through their paces. Read full resume

Free Antivirus Protection For Pc

Avast One Essential offers impressive free protection for your Windows machine, but less protection on macOS, Android, and iOS. It’s an antivirus editor’s choice winner.

Best Free Antivirus For Windows Pcs: Top 5 Picks

Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows offers the same basic antivirus technology as the commercial Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, focusing on the basic task of antivirus protection with minimal add-ons.

Microsoft Defender Antivirus protects Windows 10 computers without other antivirus protection. It gets the job done, but it still can’t beat the best free or paid third-party antivirus tools.

Since 1982, it has tested and evaluated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. (See how we tested everything we reviewed (opens in a new window).)

Writing malware today is big business — probably as big as writing useful or interesting software. There are different types of malware, but they all have the same goal – to make money. Snooping Trojans steal and sell your personal information. If you want to get your encrypted files back, ransomware will hunt you down and demand payment. It seems unfair that you are forced to spend money on antivirus software to fight these threats. Well, good news! You can protect your computer and device without spending a cent by choosing a free antivirus solution.

Total Security: Free Antivirus Protection For Home And Business| Virus Scan & Anti Malware For Windows

Your antivirus should of course be able to root out existing malware, but its ongoing task is to keep ransomware, botnets, Trojans, and other types of malicious programs from taking hold. All of the free antivirus programs we’ve selected here offer real-time protection against malware. Some people struggle with browsers, trying to make sure you never browse websites that host malware or trick you into handing over your credentials to phishing sites.

Believe it or not, some of these free programs outperform all but the most expensive programs of their kind. And since they’re free, you can try a few before picking your favorite.

Avast has been providing antivirus protection for as long as the antivirus industry has been around. With Avast One Essential, you get award-winning antivirus protection and more for free. All four independent test labs we track include Avast in their reports, and it performed well in nearly every test. It also scored well in our own hands-on tests. Other protection services include permission-based ransomware protection systems, basic firewalls, and bandwidth-limited VPNs.

Avast reserves some features for paid users. For example, the free version scans and identifies apps missing security patches and updates them at your command, but doesn’t automatically update your apps. It costs nothing to get a list of junk files and corrupt registry entries; cleaning up found clutter is a premium feature.

Download Antivirus For Mac Trusted By Millions

Many free antivirus programs only work on the Windows platform. Avast offers different levels of protection for macOS, Android and iOS. Its macOS version scored well in the labs, and its ransomware protection, browser cleanup, and VPN work just like they did on Windows. On Android, you get features like antivirus, VPN, junk cleaning, and privacy protection, but noticeably no anti-theft protection. Protection under iOS is limited, as usual, but includes VPNs, filtering of fake and malicious websites, and extra protection for photos.

If you find security software interesting rather than boring, and if a tight budget is the only reason you don’t buy a full security suite, Avast One Essential is for you. Of course, the commercial Avast One package has more features, but this free version includes a lot. The fact that you can use it to protect all your devices, not just your Windows PC, is the icing on the cake.

Avast acquired AVG in 2016. Once the dust has settled, both products use the exact same antivirus technology. After installing AVG AntiVirus Free, you get the same powerful protection as Avast. The two laboratories had different total laboratory results because not all laboratories reported AVG. In fact, AVG is ahead as the labs that skipped AVG were the only labs that gave Avast a low score.

Like Avast, AVG protects against ransomware by preventing any unauthorized changes to protected files. Like Avast, the free version of AVG will recognize junk files and other performance hits, but won’t fix the problem unless you pay for it. Bonus features include a hardened browser, shopping deal finder, and a simple web security checker.

Best Free Antivirus Apps For Windows 11

Not every user wants nearly the same level of functionality as the Avast One Essential package, and not everyone needs cross-platform protection. If your focus is strong protection against malware and malicious or fraudulent websites, AVG offers the same protection as Avast, but in a simpler, more traditional package. User interface is also important. Both Avast and AVG have a broad international presence but are popular in different regions.

Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows provides the essential protection at the heart of Editors’ Choice Bitdefender Antivirus Plus. Yes, it looks more like Bitdefender’s suite, but with many features disabled. Although there are no ransomware fixes and vulnerability scans, most of the locked features make sense. On the other hand, the unusual defense timeline shows how Bitdefender blocks the attack. Its defenses against malicious and phishing sites are second to none.

If you choose commercial antivirus software, you will get more features and functions than some security suite products. These include a basic password management system, a hardened desktop for safe browsing, a rescue environment for recovering from Windows-disabled malware, and a Wi-Fi security analyzer. None of this is free.

Bitdefender has a great reputation in the security world, and the company’s researchers frequently report important findings. Relying on an antivirus company like this is wise, but you might be put off by the wealth of features in the commercial version. In that case, try Bitdefender Antivirus Free, which gives you full core protection without any confusing cuts.

Avast Free Antivirus Review

Like Avast’s free product, Avira Free Security is a free version of the full security package. All functions are visible, but many are locked. All four labs we tracked rated Avira’s antivirus technology important enough to test, and Avira’s scores were mostly excellent, but there were a few key points. It didn’t perform well in our hands-on tests, but we switched to the lab when our results didn’t match the lab.

Avira scans applications that are vulnerable due to missing security patches, but lets you manually fix any issues it finds. Other features include a simple password manager, search for shopping deals and proactive blocking of ad tracking, as well as a bandwidth-limited VPN and overhauled privacy settings.

Perhaps more controversial is the addition of the Avira Crypto Ethereum mining component. If your computer is powerful enough to support it, you will be prompted to install Avira Crypto. This component mines cryptocurrency for you in the background. Avira manages the process and takes some action.

Do you want a full security suite instead of a full antivirus? Can your nerves handle the occasional upsell window when you accidentally click on a feature that isn’t free? Avira Free Security might be right for you.

Best 100% Free Antivirus Software For Pc (2022)

No discussion of free antivirus software is complete without Microsoft Defender Antivirus. If you don’t have third-party antivirus software or your antivirus subscription expires, Defender protects you. If you add or restore another antivirus, Defender will quietly step aside.

That doesn’t mean we’re super excited about protecting you with Defender. Scored well on some lab tests, but failed others. It also scored some high and some very low scores in our hands-on tests. In typical Microsoft fashion, its protection against fake and malicious websites only applies to Edge. This is fine, but you can do better.

Hey, You! I fell asleep after reading this article. Someone who cares a lot about antivirus software. this is for you! To take advantage of its protection, you don’t need to do anything. For the right person, this is the ideal solution.

Kaspersky Security Cloud Free is more than just a free antivirus – it’s a stripped-down version of Kaspersky’s advanced cross-platform security suite. Kaspersky’s antivirus capabilities have impressed independent testing labs, which often award it perfect or near-perfect scores. Unfortunately, we can’t recommend it highly enough. That’s why.

Windows Security: Defender, Antivirus & More For Windows 11

For years, Kaspersky has faced charges and convictions based on its Russian origin, although none of those charges have been backed up by hard evidence.

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