How to Stop Avast from Running in the Background?

Why would you want to stop Avast from running in the background? When it’s the best anti-malware tool for Windows PC. It uses very little ram and disk usage but gives you high scanning speed and detects malware instantly.

But if you are somehow dealing with Avast service high CPU problem then you may want to stop Avast completely from running at startup or in the background. The problem starts from here when you turned off Avast completely you will still find AvastSvc.exe running in the task manager. If you End the Task process this anti-malware tool will run when you restarted your PC.

In this article, we will explain why antivirus runs in the background and is there a way to stop Avast from running on startup?

Read Also: Fix: Why Avast Causing High CPU Temp and Fan Speed

Why does Anti Malware Software run in the Background?

All antivirus programs are designed to run in the background constantly so that they are not be disabled by malware attacks. These tools run in the background just to keep you safe. These programs monitor all the traffic going in and out of your computer and display warnings when something fishy took place.

If you shut the Avast off then you won’t be protected if any malware capable enough to disable antivirus infected your PC. But there are some users who say that

I don’t like programs that need to run in the background regardless of whether you are running the program or not.

For them say goodbye to the antivirus tools and switch towards Linus or Apple. These platforms are safer, don’t need such protection. That only means uninstall Avast if you want to stop avast running in the background.

As for a more technical answer, for you to disable avast, you would need to disable the defense module, the driver, the service, and the shields of avast. I can’t see the point of doing it, but that’s up to you.

After this, you won’t be able to even run an on-demand scan without the service running. So it’s best for you to simply uninstall it from your Windows PC.

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How to Stop Avast from Running in the Background?

Now if you are persistent to turn off Avast completely on your PC so that nothing associated with it remains there, then you need to apply the correct method.

Step 1 – Enable Avast Self-defense Module

Do the following at your own risk:

1. Open the Avast User interface
2. Click on “Settings“
3. Uncheck “Enable Avast self-defense module”
4. Click “OK“
5. Click “Yes” on the warning dialog (no screen capture is possible for this).
6. Close the Avast User interface

Step 2 – Run Command Prompt

1. Open a cmd shell
2. Run the following command

taskkill /F /IM avastui.exe
SUCCESS: The process "AvastUI.exe" with PID 5928 has been terminated.

Step 3 – Disable Avast Service

After that, you need to run Service utility which is a built-in Windows tool to permanently stop avast running in the background.

1. Press Windows + R, a box will appear type services.msc
2. Find Avast Antivirus in the list, double-click it, and from the dialog select “Disable,” then “Apply,” then “Stop.”

How to Disable Avast Temporarily?

There will be times when you’ll need it for troubleshooting purposes. That’s why there’s an option to temporarily disable the self-defense module in the settings. Follow these steps;

1. Right-click the Avast icon in the notifications area on the taskbar.
2. Select “Avast Shield Control.” A new pop-up menu is displayed with a list to disable the option.
3. Click the disable option here you can prevent Avast from starting for 10 minutes, an hour, or until you restart your computer.
4. Select the “Disable permanently” option to turn off Avast completely. When you select this option, Avast will not start again until you turn it back on.

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How to Stop Avast Running on Mac

If Avast is consuming high resources on Mac or MacBook pro it’s because it runs in a persistent mode. This mode prevents the attacks of malicious code from shutting down the application.

So if you want to stop this antivirus tool then follow these steps;

1. Click the “Avast” menu in the application
2. Select “Preferences.”
3. Uncheck the “Launch at Startup as a Persistent Application” box
4. Click “Quit & Remove Persistence.” Avast shuts down automatically after quitting the application.

How to Uninstall Avast Security from Mac

However, if you completely want to stop avast from running in the background then uninstall it. Follow these steps;

1. Open the Avast Security user interface
2. Click the Avast Security icon in the menu bar, then select Open Avast Security
3. Click Go in the menu bar, select Applications, then double-click the Avast icon.
4. Ensure the Avast Security window is active, then click Avast on the left side of the menu bar, and select Uninstall Avast Security.
5. Click Uninstall.
6. Click Quit.

This is how you can stop avast running in the background permanently on your cost and risk.