This article is about the Email Guard feature included in Avast Premium Security. For information about the Avast One version of Email Guard, refer to the following article: New Avast One Email Guard - FAQs.
General
What is Email Guard?
Email Guard is a feature in Avast Premium Security, which scans received emails and helps block dangerous attachments or phishing scams. Email Guard includes two functions, each with a corresponding section in the Email Guard menu:
- Across all devices: Email Guard scans incoming emails in your online email accounts and adds labels to help identify potential threats. Emails determined to be safe are marked as Avast: Scanned, while potentially malicious or phishing emails are labeled Avast: Suspicious. If the AI-powered scam detection option is enabled, emails flagged as scams receive an Avast: Scam label. These labels appear directly in your email account, helping you recognize risky messages when accessing email from any device or browser. To use this feature, you need a paid subscription to Avast Premium Security.
- Only on this Mac: Email Guard scans emails sent or received using all email client applications installed on your Mac, such as Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook. The feature can mark suspicious emails and help block dangerous attachments. This functionality is available in both the free version (Avast Security) and the paid version (Avast Premium Security).
Email Guard does not collect or store any of your emails. If it detects a potentially malicious email, it only flags it within your mailbox. You can decide what to do with the email. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.
How many email accounts can I protect with Email Guard?
Across all devices: Email Guard can help protect up to 5 online email accounts.
Only on this Mac: Additionally, Email Guard can scan all emails that are sent or received through email accounts linked to email client applications, such as Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook.
Do I need an Avast Account to use Email Guard?
Across all devices: Yes. To protect your online email accounts, Email Guard requires an Avast Account. Your protected email accounts are linked to your Avast Account, providing continued protection even if you uninstall Avast Premium Security. If you reinstall Avast Premium Security, your protected emails are automatically added to Email Guard when you log in to your Avast Account through the application.
Only on this Mac: No. Avast Account is not required to protect email accounts linked to email client applications.
Which email accounts are compatible with Email Guard?
Email Guard is compatible with the following online email providers:
Most popular providers that support the IMAP protocol, as well as localized versions of some of the providers, are also supported (for example, outlook.com.br, live.jp, etc).
- 1&1
- A1
- A2
- Active 24
- Active 25
- Alice
- Ameritech
- AOL
- Apple iCloud Mail
- Arcor
- Aruba PEC
- Att
- Bell Canada
- Bellsouth
- Bigpond
- Bluewin Mail
- Blueyonder
- BOL
- BT
- Centerly link
- Charter communications
- Clustermail
- Comcast
- Cox
- Free Telecom
- Freemail
- Freenet
- Gandi Mail
- Gmail
- GMX Freemail
- Internode
- Jazztel
- Laposte
- Libero Mail
- Live
- Microsoft
- Mopera
- NTL World
- Office 365
- Orange.fr
- Outlook (Hotmail, MSN, etc.)
- Posteo
- Promail
- Proximus
- Sapo Mail
- Sbcglobal
- Seznam
- SFR Neuf
- Sky
- Snet
- Sympatico
- Talk21
- Telnet
- Telnor Denmark
- Telstra
- T-Online
- UOL Mail
- Virgin
- Virginmedia
- Web
- Windowslive
- Yahoo
- Yandex Mail
- Zeeland Net
- Ziggo Mail
- Zoho Mail
Does Email Guard detect malicious emails in my whole inbox?
Across all devices: Email Guard scans emails as you receive them. The feature does not scan emails that are already in your email account before you enable Email Guard.
Only on this Mac: Email Guard scans incoming emails in your email client applications. It does not scan emails that were already in your account before you enabled Email Guard. However, if your email client application is configured to download your entire inbox, Email Guard may scan even old emails.
Usage
How do I set up Email Guard?
For information about how to set up Email Guard with your email account, refer to the following article:
How does Email Guard mark suspicious emails?
Across all devices: Email Guard automatically labels incoming emails as Avast: Scanned for safe messages or Avast: Suspicious for potentially malicious or phishing emails. If AI-powered scam detection is enabled, scam emails are marked Avast: Scam. Labels appear directly in your online email account.
Only on this Mac: Email Guard displays a pop-up notification if a suspicious email is detected being sent or received through your mail application. You can view details about detected threads in your email client applications by following these steps:
- Open Avast Premium Security and click Email Guard.
- Ensure that the Statistics tab is selected, then click Threat Summary.
How can I manage Email Guard settings?
Open Avast Premium Security and click Email Guard. Select 
Settings (the gear icon) to configure Email Guard settings that help protect the email applications on your device:
- Choose whether to be notified about attempts to install potentially unwanted programs and tools.
- Choose whether to scan secure connections.
- Choose between weekly summary reports or immediate detection alerts.
- Add exceptions by enter the domain name of a mailbox you do not want Email Guard to scan.
Troubleshooting
Why do I see the error message 'Your account is not enabled for IMAP use'?
For the online version of Email Guard to function correctly with some email providers, it is necessary to enable IMAP in your email account settings. For detailed instructions on how to do this, refer to the following article:
What does the error message 'Application-specific password required' mean?
This message appears when you have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled and try to enter your email account password to set up the online version of Email Guard. In this situation, you need to generate a special password in your email provider settings so Email Guard can connect to your email account. For detailed instructions on how to set up Email Guard when you have 2FA enabled, refer to the following article:
Why do I see the error message 'Sorry, we can't connect to that account yet'?
This message appears if you are trying to connect with an email account that is not yet supported by the online version of Email Guard. We are continuously working on adding compatible email providers so please try again later.
Why did I receive the email 'Email Guard paused for this mailbox' or 'We’ve lost access to this online mailbox'?
These emails are sent out if the online version of Email Guard has lost access to your email account for any reason, for example, due to a changed email account password. To enable protection again, follow these steps:
- Open Avast Premium Security and click Email Guard.
- Ensure that the Overview tab is selected, then click Sign in next to the relevant email account to set up protection again.
- Alternatively, click the X icon next to the relevant email account to remove it from Email Guard. Then, add your email account again.
How can I remove Email Guard from my email if I don't have Avast Premium Security installed?
Because the online version of Email Guard is linked to your Avast Account, it will continue to protect your online email accounts even if you uninstall Avast Premium Security. If you wish to disable Email Guard you must reinstall Avast Premium Security. For detailed instructions to remove Email Guard from your email, refer to the following article:
Alternatively, contact Avast Support for assistance.
Why did Email Guard report a spam email as 'safe'?
Email Guard is specifically designed to identify and prevent phishing, scams, and malicious content like harmful links and attachments in emails. However, it is not intended for detecting generic spam messages, such as unwanted newsletters. To report undetected spam messages, follow the instructions in this article:
Why did I lose connection with my cox.net email address?
Cox.net email addresses are currently being transitioned to the email provider Yahoo.com. When an email address is transitioned, it loses connection to Email Guard. If your cox.net email address has lost connection to Email Guard, refer to the steps in the following article to reconnect it: Email Guard - Getting Started.
Why did I lose access with my Gmail account?
Google has changed its policies for applications listed under the email reporting and monitoring categories. To protect your account, you need to renew Gmail access every six months. When your Gmail access expires, you receive an email to the email address that was protected, as well as an alert in the Email Guard section of your Avast Antivirus application. Follow the provided instructions to renew your Gmail access.
Explore ▸ Email Guard.
Reload next to the relevant email account and follow the instructions to add your email account again.