The Best Anti Malware Free Download

Katarina Glamoslija
Updated on: January 29, 2022

Curt on time? Hither's the best gratis Windows antivirus for 2022:

• 🥇 Avira: Excellent gratuitous antivirus protection that includes real-time malware scanning, a prophylactic shopping extension, a privacy + functioning optimizer, and a free VPN.
  • Download Avira Gratuitous Security for Windows hither.

I tested every complimentary antivirus I could detect against thousands of old and new Windows malware files. Running virtual environments for various PC operating systems from Windows 7 – Windows 10, I not only looked at each antivirus'south malware protection capabilities, simply too its user interface and its reputation for safeguarding user privacy. This wasn't an easy task, and I learned that there are only a few free antiviruses out there that offer decent protection for Windows computers.

Merely in that location are as well some really good free antivirus programs that offer improvements over Windows'due south built-in protections. I was ultimately able to find 6 free downloads that each offer free virus protection alongside a decent gear up of gratis internet security tools.

That said, every gratuitous antivirus is going to include a few frustrating limitations. That's why I always recommend investing a lilliputian scrap every month into premium antivirus software that includes protection confronting all types of malware — with extra features like a VPN, password managing director, parental controls, and dark web monitoring (Norton 360 has all of these features, is ranked every bit the best antivirus software for 2022, and is very affordable).

I tested and ranked each free antivirus listed here for malware detection, ease of utilize, and additional cybersecurity features. Unfortunately, no gratis antivirus includes all of the features you need for complete protection, but information technology'due south better to protect yourself with the best gratis antivirus than no antivirus at all!

Quick summary of the best free Windows antiviruses for 2022:

• 1.🥇 Avira — Best overall gratis antivirus for Windows in 2022.
• two.🥈 Panda — Strong virus protection with skillful additional features (like a gaming mode).
• 3.🥉 TotalAV — Simple free antivirus with an intuitive interface (recommended for beginners).
• 4. Kaspersky — Free extras like a VPN, dark spider web monitoring, and a password director.
• five. Malwarebytes — Minimalistic antivirus with on-demand scanning.
• six. Sophos — Good real-time scanning with remote admission for iii PCs.
• Bonus. Norton — Best Windows antivirus on the market (with a 60-24-hour interval money-back guarantee).
• Yes, You lot Already Have a Complimentary Antivirus on Your PC, But It Isn't Good Enough.
• Free Antivirus vs. Paid Antivirus.
• Tiptop Brands That Didn't Make the Cutting.
• How to Choose the All-time Free Windows Antivirus for Your Needs.
• Comparison of the Best Free Antiviruses for Windows in 2022.
• Frequently Asked Questions almost Gratis Antiviruses for Windows.

UPDATE (2022): One of the top antivirus providers, Norton, recently removed its free package, only I've kept it on this list as a paid culling because it really is one of the all-time cyberspace security providers out in that location. If y'all don't want to bargain with the hassles of a free antivirus, a low-cost premium antivirus like Norton 360 is always a good pick. (Read the full Norton 360 review here.)

🥇ane. Avira Free Security for Windows — All-time Free Antivirus in 2022

Avira Costless Security for Windows is my favorite free Windows antivirus in 2022 — it has one of the best anti-malware engines on the market, includes more than complimentary features than any other competitor, and is really piece of cake to use.

Avira's virus scanner operates in the cloud — so its detection and analysis don't actually take place on your PC — making Avira extremely fast, lightweight, and low on system resources. During my testing, Avira'southward anti-malware engine detected all of the malware files I previously downloaded to my computer, and I was able to run CPU-intensive programs during scans with almost zero slowdown.

Avira'southward gratis antivirus likewise comes with some first-class extra features, such as:

• Safe Shopping browser extension.
• Privacy & operation optimizer.
• VPN (500 MB monthly limit).
• Password manager.
• Game booster.
• Firewall.
• File shredder.
• And more…

The Safe Shopping browser extension for Firefox and Chrome is actually good — information technology blocks suspicious phishing sites, spider web trackers, and unwanted advertisements. The extension also automatically recommends links to amend deals when shopping online. I was actually able to find a lot of expert deals, but information technology didn't work 100% of the time (still pretty practiced though!).

I'm also a big fan of Avira'south privacy and performance optimization tools — they cleaned out my cookies and junk files, and likewise fixed hidden privacy settings that were leaking personal information on the spider web.

That said, I think the VPN that comes with Avira's gratis antivirus is not that good. It's limited to just 500 MB per month, which is barely plenty to watch a couple of really short videos, and it only lets you lot connect to one server location.

If y'all desire a fast and reliable VPN with unlimited data, multi-device support, and avant-garde system optimization tools, you should consider upgrading to Avira Prime , which costs SGD81.35 / yr — information technology'due south a flake pricier than some competitors, just it's one of the best antivirus suites of 2022.

Bottom Line:

Avira'due south deject-based, complimentary virus scanning engine is one of the all-time on the market — information technology's lightweight, fast, has perfect detection rates, and is 100% free. I'chiliad also a big fan of Avira'south Rubber Shopping browser extension and privacy optimizer, both of which offer meaning improvement over Microsoft's congenital-in protections. To get more advanced internet security protection, you lot'll need to upgrade to one of Avira's paid plans, which start at SGD62.36 / twelvemonth — just in terms of free Windows antiviruses, it doesn't become better than Avira.

Download Avira Free Now

Read the full Avira review here >

🥈2. Panda Costless Antivirus for Windows — Skillful Virus Protection with Decent Extras

Panda Free Antivirus for Windows is lightweight, secure, and like shooting fish in a barrel to employ — during my tests, Panda's antivirus scanner detected significantly more adware, spyware, and ransomware files than Windows Defender. Panda's real-fourth dimension protection too performed really well, blocking virtually of the malware files I tried downloading to my PC.

I also like that Panda has a gaming way in its free antivirus — whenever you're playing a game or watching a video in full screen, Panda automatically suspends notifications.

Another thing that makes Panda a good choice for Windows users is the Rescue Kit feature, which allows you to download a bootable version of Panda to a USB bulldoze and and so use the USB drive to make clean an infected PC and get it upward and running again.

Panda's gratuitous antivirus as well comes with a secure VPN. It provides fast connection speeds, but it only lets you connect to one server and has a data limit of 150 MB per day — this is a big improvement over Avira's 500 MB per month, only it'due south even so not nearly enough data for streaming or file sharing. If yous're interested in unlimited streaming or torrenting, you'll need a better VPN (check out our list of the best antiviruses with VPNs here).

You can only get unlimited VPN data (and admission to select various worldwide servers) on the Panda Dome Premium plan, which also offers extra features like a firewall, anti-ransomware protection, anti-phishing protection, advanced organisation tune-up tools, a password manager, and parental controls, for SGD90.84 / year. All of Panda's premium plans come with a xxx-twenty-four hour period coin-dorsum guarantee.

Bottom Line:

Panda's free antivirus is a good, easy-to-use antivirus, offer 100% free real-fourth dimension malware protection. With lightweight malware scanning, an automatic gaming manner, a Rescue Kit, and a VPN, Panda is an first-class free cyberspace security product. However, the VPN is limited to 150 MB per day on a unmarried server. If you want unlimited VPN access — and other extras like a firewall, anti-phishing, countersign director, and parental controls — you'll need to upgrade. Panda offers four different pricing tiers for paid users, which start at SGD38.63 / twelvemonth, then it'south easy to find the right plan for you — or yous can just give Panda Free a try and upgrade later.

Download Panda Free Now

Read the full Panda review here >

🥉three. TotalAV Gratuitous Antivirus — Most Intuitive Gratis Antivirus

TotalAV Complimentary Antivirus provides first-class virus and phishing protection — during my tests, TotalAV's deject-based malware scanner detected and removed more malware samples than about antivirus programs, successfully identifying even very tricky ransomware and cryptojacking files.

TotalAV'due south phishing protection is also very good. Information technology uses a huge blacklist to identify known phishing sites as well as an AI-powered phishing detection system to detect new threats. In my testing, the anti-phishing tool scored a near-perfect detection rate, stopping me from inbound more than malicious sites than Chrome's native phishing tool.

TotalAV is as well the almost intuitive complimentary Windows antivirus on this list, with like shooting fish in a barrel-to-utilize and like shooting fish in a barrel-to-understand features and functions inside a minimalistic, well-designed dashboard. I had no issues navigating TotalAV's dashboard, and I institute it very elementary to access and use all of the provided tools.

That said, unlike Avira, TotalAV'southward free plan for Windows doesn't come with a lot of protections. The biggest drawback of TotalAV Free Antivirus is that information technology doesn't take real-time protection, meaning you won't get notified in example a malicious file attempts to make changes to your PC in existent time.

Upgrading to one of TotalAV's premium plans brings you real-time malware protection likewise as useful extras like device optimization tools, a VPN with unlimited data, a countersign manager, and more. TotalAV's paid plans get-go at SGD25.77 / twelvemonth, and they're all backed by a take a chance-gratis money-back guarantee for thirty days.

Bottom Line:

TotalAV's complimentary Windows antivirus is excellent at removing malware and blocking phishing sites. It's also one of the most intuitive antivirus programs on the marketplace, which makes it an ideal choice for beginners. However, TotalAV Complimentary doesn't come with real-time protection and information technology doesn't include any extra features. To get real-time scanning, PC optimization tools, and a VPN with no limitations, you'll need to upgrade to one of TotalAV'southward low-cost premium plans, which start at SGD25.77 / year.

Download TotalAV Free Now

Read the full TotalAV review here >

4. Kaspersky Security Deject (Free) — Good Range of Free Features

Kaspersky Security Deject — Free is adept at detecting and removing malware, and it also comes with enough of extras — including:

• VPN (200 MB daily limit).
• Password manager (xv entries limit).
• Data alienation monitoring (merely 1 account).
• Basic system cleanup tools.
• File shredder.
• Virtual keyboard.

Kaspersky'southward gratis antivirus provides good real-time malware protection, but its additional features are very limited.

Kaspersky'due south VPN provides access to 1 server location and 200 MB per mean solar day — more daily data than Panda or Avira — only still not enough for streaming or other information-heavy tasks.

And Kaspersky's gratis password director only saves a total of fifteen entries — this includes both logins and sensitive documents (like credit cards or passport details). I can't say I'thousand besides impressed with Kaspersky'southward data breach monitoring either — free users can only check the email associated with their Kaspersky account (and they have to practice it manually, unlike paid customers who get automated data breach checks).

If you lot like Kaspersky's interface and you lot want admission to its unlimited VPN, password manager, parental controls, and web protections, then you'll have to upgrade to i of Kaspersky's paid plans, which start at SGD40.67 / year. All Kaspersky purchases include a thirty-day money-dorsum guarantee.

Lesser Line:

Kaspersky'south free antivirus comes with a good malware scanner and a ton of additional features, but most of them are very express in functionality. Kaspersky's VPN has a daily cap of 200 MB, the countersign manager lets you store up to 15 logins and credit cards, and the information breach monitoring only checks one email address. Upgrading to one of Kaspersky's paid plans gets you all of these features without any limitations, plus extras like parental controls, advanced web protections, and more.

Download Kaspersky Free Now

Read the total Kaspersky review here >

five. Malwarebytes Free — Minimalistic Virus Scanner

Malwarebytes Gratis is a good selection for users looking for a simple antivirus scanner that they can install and forget nigh. Malwarebytes'southward virus scanner uses a virus database likewise as heuristics to catch all types of malware — and it performed pretty well in my tests, detecting around 90% of the malware files I hid on my PC. However, it did miss a few well-subconscious files that competitors like Avira and TotalAV detected.

Apart from the scanner, Malwarebytes Complimentary also comes with a browser extension that protects against a wide range of threats, including malware, ads and trackers, scams, and PUPs. One of the things I like the nearly about this extension is that all of the protections are turned on by default, then there's nothing for you lot to do (but you lot can easily turn off one or all of the protections).

In my tests, Malwarebytes'south browser extension blocked the majority of risky sites I attempted to visit, scoring a 90% phishing detection rate. However, the extension wasn't equally accurate at blocking ads — I visited dozens of sites filled with ads, and Malwarebytes blocked but effectually a third of the ads.

Malwarebytes's free plan is a uncomplicated virus scanner with a good phishing tool, but it unfortunately doesn't have real-fourth dimension malware protection. To go real-time scanning, you'll need to upgrade to Malwarebytes Premium, which provides coverage for upwards to v devices and starts at SGD54.23 / twelvemonth. Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy also adds a good VPN for SGD135.59 / year. Both of Malwarebytes's premium plans are covered by a generous lx-twenty-four hours money-back guarantee.

Lesser Line:

Malwarebytes Free is a minimalistic antivirus scanner with practiced virus detection and removal rates. It also comes with a browser extension that blocks malware, phishing sites, ads, and trackers. Upgrading to Malwarebytes Premium brings you real-fourth dimension protection and coverage for up to 5 devices, whereas Malwarebytes Premium + Privacy also adds a VPN.

Download Malwarebytes For Free At present

Read the full Malwarebytes review >

6. Sophos Dwelling Gratuitous — Piece of cake Remote Management

Sophos Dwelling house Complimentary offers pretty good gratis anti-malware protection. It also includes some helpful web protections and covers up to three PCs (all within its gratis antivirus package).

In my antivirus testing, Sophos was able to detect a decent amount of virus and malware threats, but it missed all of my test ransomware files — that'due south because Sophos's free version doesn't include ransomware protection, which I think is a pretty big problem. And while Sophos also offers basic anti-phishing protections (they're meliorate than Chrome'south born protections) they're not well-nigh every bit every bit skillful as Avira's free anti-phishing tools.

One thing I really like nigh Sophos is its remote management feature — y'all tin log into Sophos'south online dashboard and admission antivirus scanning and real-time protection updates on upward to 3 devices.

In add-on to multi-device protection and remote management, Sophos is also a decent choice for families because it has free parental controls. Nonetheless, Sophos's parental controls are pretty basic — yous can but choose which categories of sites to block. If you're looking for advanced parental controls like app scheduling and location tracking, yous should consider a premium antivirus like Norton 360 Deluxe.

Sophos Home Free is pretty adept, and Sophos Abode Premium adds advanced malware and ransomware scanning, additional spider web protections, and coverage for upward to x devices, for SGD61.01 / year — and it has a 30-day coin-back guarantee.

Lesser Line:

Sophos offers pretty good antivirus scanning and remote management for upwardly to 3 devices — which is pretty generous for a free antivirus. Sophos'due south free version also has basic parental controls (only content filtering) and anti-phishing protection.Users looking for coverage on up to ten devices, advanced malware and ransomware protection, and advanced web safety tools should upgrade to Sophos Home Premium.

Download Sophos Free Now

Read the full Sophos review hither >

Bonus. Norton — Best Overall Windows Antivirus in 2022

Norton is past far the best Windows antivirus in 2022 — and while it doesn't currently have a free program, it offers a take chances-free 60-day money-dorsum guarantee, which gives y'all 2 months to attempt information technology out and see if it's correct for you.

In addition to providing perfect malware detection against all known and emerging cyber threats, Norton also has excellent phishing protection, a smart firewall with tons of customization options, and online cyberbanking and shopping protection.

Information technology also comes with a wide range of quality extras, including:

• VPN (unlimited data) — maintains fast speeds, works with streaming sites like Netflix, and has extras like Tor support and dissever-tunneling.
• Password director — generates, saves, and auto-fills logins, audits password security, and has an automated countersign changer (just tiptop standalone brands like Dashlane offer this functionality).
• Parental controls — filters inappropriate content, limits device usage, and monitors YouTube and Hulu usage (Norton ranks #1 on our list of the all-time antiviruses with parental controls).
• Organisation optimization tools — removes unwanted files from Windows and spider web browsers, improves boot fourth dimension, and defragments difficult drive.
• Nighttime spider web monitoring — scans night web forums, data breach databases, and credit reports in real-time.
• And much more…

Norton is also very like shooting fish in a barrel to employ across all operating systems, offers coverage for up to v devices, and doesn't crusade any organisation slowdown — information technology even has a gaming fashion, so you tin can uninterruptedly play games while information technology runs in the background.

There are several plans to choose from, but Norton 360 Deluxe offers the best value — plus, with our special 61% discount, you lot can become it for simply SGD54.23 / twelvemonth. US users tin also check out Norton's LifeLock plans that get-go at SGD134.90 / year and add identity theft protection with upwardly to $1M in insurance payouts and legal help. All of Norton's plans are covered by a sixty-day money-dorsum guarantee.

Bottom Line:

Norton offers unparalleled malware protection, a wide range of high-end security features, and affordable plans for up to five devices. Information technology also has a ton of extras, including a fast VPN, a secure password manager, and the best parental controls around. While it doesn't have a free Windows plan, information technology provides the best value on the market, and information technology comes with a threescore-24-hour interval money-dorsum guarantee, so you can try it out hazard-free for two whole months.

DOWNLOAD NORTON RISK-FREE At present

Read the full Norton review hither >

Aye, You Already Have a Complimentary Antivirus on Your PC, Just It Isn't Adept Enough

Your Windows figurer already comes with Windows Defender (some newer Windows 10 computers call it "Windows Security" or "Microsoft Defender") — which, as we saw in our full review, is a decent free antivirus. But the problem with Windows Defender is that it's rarely updated, it doesn't include additional net security protections, and it frequently has vulnerabilities that don't get fixed (sometimes for several years!). Plus, Windows Defender consistently ranks below the top antivirus scanners in our independent lab testing. That's why I ever recommend keeping your PC as safe as possible with third-political party antivirus software.

All of the free antiviruses listed here are significantly ameliorate than Microsoft'south Windows Defender antivirus. The gratuitous downloads on this list are from top-notch cybersecurity companies that are offering their premium antivirus protection for free. These are some of the top antivirus and anti-malware engines in the world — and our independent lab tests have confirmed that these antivirus engines are much stronger, faster, and amend than Microsoft'southward Windows Defender.

And some of the complimentary programs on my listing also include additional cybersecurity protections. My #one costless Windows antivirus, Avira Free Security for Windows, is particularly generous with its gratuitous offerings, just even Avira'due south free programme has some abrasive limitations that don't be on its paid plans.

In full general, cybersecurity companies endeavour to entice yous with their free products, merely they're ultimately looking to convert you lot into a paying customer. If you're looking for the all-time protection for all of your devices, you'll need to pay for premium antivirus software. Unfortunately, there's no fashion around this.

Withal, if yous're simply looking for a simple gratuitous malware scanner with a couple of decent web protections that can improve on Microsoft's Defender, then all of the products on this listing will be expert plenty for you.

Free Antivirus vs. Paid Antivirus

Free antiviruses similar Avira and TotalAV are pretty good, but their paid versions are way better — to begin with, they come with all of the net security protections you need to stay as safe as possible online. And I'm not just talking about anti-malware protection hither.

Premium antivirus software for Windows also includes extras like a VPN (to ensure you're anonymous online), a password director (to protect your sensitive information, including financial information), and parental controls (to brand sure your child is protected on the net). Together with a malware scanner, these tools are crucial to building a expert online defence against hackers, scammers, and predators.

What'south more, paid antiviruses also include better customer support, and then you know you can go aid removing malware, accessing a characteristic, or solving any other issue with your antivirus at all times. Gratis antiviruses, on the other paw, don't include alive chat and telephone support, so the simply fashion to go assistance is to read a noesis base of operations, post a question on a forum, or transport a ticket.

You can read more than nigh paid antiviruses for dissimilar operating systems hither.

Top Brands That Didn't Make the Cut:

I've spent a long time compiling and revising this listing to guarantee that I'chiliad offer you a loftier-quality resource. You may be surprised to see that some of the meridian antivirus brands didn't brand the top v. Here are a few of them:

• Avast. While Avast — and their subsidiary antivirus company AVG — continue to offering two pieces of widely used complimentary antivirus software (Avast Free Antivirus and AVG AntiVirus Free) their repeated privacy violations have caused besides many concerns. You tin read more here.
• McAfee. McAfee is ane of my favorite antiviruses of 2022. Information technology comes with an avant-garde anti-malware engine, excellent web protections, and a VPN with unlimited data. But unfortunately, McAfee doesn't have a gratis plan. However, if you demand a high-quality antivirus, McAfee's low-cost net security packages are some of the best on the market.
• Bitdefender. Unfortunately, Bitdefender recently discontinued its free plan for Windows, but it offers i of the nearly comprehensive internet security suites on the market, with perfect malware detection rates, high-end security features, and extras like a password manager, a VPN, and parental controls.

How to Choose the All-time Free Windows Antivirus for Your Needs

• Malware detection. The master purpose of an antivirus is to protect you lot against malware, so you lot desire to brand sure the program you're running on your device has a good malware scanner that is able to identify both known and new malware, including trojans, spyware, ransomware, rootkits, and keyloggers. All of my top choices have perfect or about-perfect malware detection rates.
• Minimal slowdown. An antivirus may slow down your system, making it hard to stream content, play games, or fifty-fifty browse the web, especially during a total arrangement scan. Merely programs like Avira and TotalAV are pretty lightweight, so you won't even detect they're there.
• Features. While nigh free antiviruses are pretty limited in terms of features, some gratuitous programs include a couple of extras. For example, Avira has a basic free countersign director, Panda has a free VPN (150 MB/mean solar day), and Kaspersky has data alienation monitoring.
• Ease of use. Windows Defender is already pretty easy to employ (it's always running), so a free antivirus has to exist very easy to utilise and offer the same splendid user experience that Microsoft has built into its native PC antivirus. All of the products on this listing have user-friendly dashboards, intuitive features, and decent customer support.
• Genuinely free. Many cybersecurity brands try to trick you lot into purchasing a premium product by offering a free trial and then making you pay to go along using the product. I've personally checked to make sure that all of the brands listed here offer costless protection. I also included Norton on the listing as a bonus in case y'all're interested in learning more than about the all-time paid alternative (plus, it comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you can try information technology out for free).

Comparison of the All-time Free Antiviruses for Windows in 2022

Antivirus	Paid Version (Starting Toll)	Existent-Time Protection	Web protection	Extra Features
one.🥇 Avira	SGD62.36 / year	Yeah	Yes	Basic system tune-upward, VPN, and countersign manager
ii.🥈 Panda	SGD38.63 / year	Yes	No	Rescue kit and basic VPN
3.🥉 TotalAV	SGD25.77 / year	No	Yep	/
4. Kaspersky	SGD40.67 / year	Yes	No	Basic arrangement cleanup, VPN, countersign director, and information breach monitoring
five. Malwarebytes	SGD54.23 / year	No	Yeah	/
half-dozen. Sophos	SGD61.01 / year	Yes	Yeah	Remote management & protection for 3 PCs
Bonus. Norton	SGD54.23 / year	Yes (paid version)	Yep (paid version)	VPN, password manager, parental controls, dark web monitoring (paid version)

What's the take hold of with gratuitous antiviruses?

At that place is no such thing equally a truly free antivirus. You're always going to "pay" with something. Almost antivirus companies limit the gratuitous version of their software to only offer basic protection. This leaves a lot of holes in your calculator's cybersecurity defence force. The antivirus company hopes you'll recognize you lot're not well-protected, and they'll try to get y'all to upgrade to the paid plan by sending you a ton of notifications and advertisements.

Some other antivirus companies fifty-fifty sell free users' data to large corporations for marketing purposes — the popular free antivirus Avast (who besides owns AVG) was just defendant of doing this exact thing.

If you're only using your device for simple online browsing or give-and-take processing, you're probably fine with a gratuitous antivirus (and the ones on this list are the best gratis antiviruses out in that location). But, in general, if yous shop any kind of sensitive information on your Windows device, it'due south always better to invest in a full-featured internet security suite than it is to trust a complimentary antivirus.

Why should I use another free antivirus instead of Windows Defender?

Windows Defender is non a bad antivirus — it even ranks a little fleck better than some third-political party gratuitous antiviruses. Just it just can't compete when top cybersecurity companies like Avira and Panda are handing out excellent complimentary antivirus software, almost all of which offer free protection confronting threats Windows Defender doesn't protect against (like phishing sites, malicious web trackers, data breaches, etc.).

Indeed, near of the products on this list take substantially better gratis antivirus protection than Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender antivirus.

You can read this weblog post if you'd similar to learn more almost why Windows Defender isn't skilful enough to keep users safe in 2022.

Is it safe to utilise a free antivirus?

If you choose an antivirus program from a trustworthy company, then yes. All of the brands on this list hither are perfectly safe to use — the only deviation between their free and paid versions is that the paid software includes boosted features, like a VPN, a password managing director, and parental controls, besides as improve customer support options.

What's the best free antivirus?

Avira is my #ane pick for the all-time free antivirus in 2022. Information technology has one of the best antivirus scanners on the market, it'due south very easy to use, and information technology has a bang-up range of additional features (web protection, performance optimization tools, a password manager, a game booster, and a VPN).

While Avira Free is a really good antivirus, it does have some limitations — you can only use it on one device, information technology doesn't provide ransomware protection, and the arranged VPN is limited to simply 500 MB per month (barely plenty to watch a few videos).

If yous want total virus protection, a VPN with no limitations, and coverage for upward to 5 Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices, I recommend you take a look at Avira Prime.

Is Avast free?

Aye, Avast does take a free antivirus, but I don't recommend you use it, equally Avast has been accused of collecting and selling user data for turn a profit — you can read more near what happened hither.

If y'all need a gratis antivirus, take a look at our list of the best free antiviruses in 2022 or just download Avira Free. Merely please keep in listen that all free antiviruses have some limitations — for example, Avira's fantabulous free antivirus doesn't take ransomware protection, and you can simply use it on one device.

If you desire the best protection for all of your devices, you need to pay for a premium antivirus plan like Norton or Bitdefender.

What are the most common types of viruses that affect Windows computers?

While there are literally billions of malware attacks reported annually, trojans and adware are consistently the about common types of malware plant on Windows computers.

Trojans wait like other files with extensions like .exe and .doc — but one time downloaded, trojans can initiate a backdoor assault to steal user data, to incorporate a Windows device into a botnet, to give a hacker direct access to a computer, or to simply crash and erase the unabridged OS.

Because hackers are constantly developing new malware for Windows, it'southward crucial that your antivirus uses a malware database that's consistently updated. Avira'due south malware scanner is based in Avira's cloud, so its malware database is e'er up-to-date, with no need for users to worry virtually downloading or installing database updates.

Volition Windows permit me to install a free antivirus?

Absolutely! Windows will automatically plow off Microsoft's built-in virus protection when a new 3rd-political party antivirus software is installed. If you make up one's mind to uninstall your third-party antivirus, your PC volition automatically ask you to reactivate the Windows Defender antivirus.

That said, if y'all're going to replace Defender, you should consider investing a niggling bit into premium cybersecurity protection. Costless antivirus software only isn't as adept as paid antivirus softwares — y'all really do become what you pay for, and when it comes to keeping all of your devices and digital data safe, a paid antivirus like Norton 360 is definitely worth the investment.

If you're looking for avant-garde protection and a lot of other great cybersecurity features, check out this list of the best premium antivirus products on the market.

If PC security is important to you, check out SafetyDetectives'southward best premium antiviruses for Windows (Updated 2022):

SGD27.eleven - SGD406.65 / year

SGD32.53 - SGD101.69 / year

SGD25.77 - SGD80.01 / year

SGD47.45 - SGD115.25 / year

SGD62.36 - SGD81.35 / year

SGD54.23 - SGD135.59 / year

Updated on: Jan 29, 2022

About the Author

Katarina is a tech enthusiast specializing in cybersecurity products, data protection, and maintaining strong practices for general online safety. When she's non a "Safety Detective", she likes to play with her 2 cats, rampage watch crime dramas, sample fine wines, and read almost the origins of the universe.

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