Webcam Shield, available in Avast Premium Security, Avast One, and Avast Omni, prevents applications and malware from accessing your PC's webcam without your consent. With Webcam Shield enabled, untrusted applications cannot capture images or videos, or send these contents outside of your PC.
Disable Webcam Shield
Webcam Shield is enabled by default. We recommend always keeping Webcam Shield enabled and only disabling it for temporary troubleshooting purposes.
To disable Webcam Shield:
- Double-click the Avast Premium Security shortcut on your desktop to open the application.
- Go to Privacy ▸ Webcam Shield.
- Click the green (ON) slider so it changes to red (OFF), then specify for how long Webcam Shield will remain disabled.
- Click Ok, stop to confirm.
Webcam Shield is now disabled. To manually enable it, click the red (OFF) slider so that it changes to green (ON).
Modify Settings
To adjust how Webcam Shield handles applications that attempt to access your webcam:
- Double-click the Avast Premium Security shortcut on your desktop to open the application.
- Go to Privacy ▸ Webcam Shield.
- Click
Settings (the gear icon) on the top-right corner.
- Select one of the following modes to define Webcam Shield sensitivity:
- Smart mode (selected by default): Automatically allows trusted applications to access your webcam. If an untrusted application attempts to access your webcam, a notification appears asking you to allow or block the application. After selecting an option, the application appears on the Blocked & Allowed apps list where you can view its status and select additional actions.
- Strict mode: Notifies you every time any application attempts to access your webcam and allows you to decide if the application is blocked or allowed. After selecting an option, the application appears on the Blocked & Allowed apps list where you can view its status and select additional actions. You can disable the notifications by ticking Don't show Webcam Shield reminders.
- No mercy mode: Notifies you every time any application attempts to access your webcam, then automatically blocks it. You can disable the notifications by ticking Don't show Webcam Shield reminders.
Webcam Shield determines trusted applications based on Avast Reputation Services, which reviews the application's certification information and analyzes how many users have the application installed.
Troubleshoot issues
Refer to the information below to troubleshoot common issues:
- Webcam Shield displays pop-ups too frequently: ensure that Webcam Shield sensitivity is set to Smart. If Webcam Shield is set to Strict, Avast notifies you every time any application attempts to access your PC's webcam.
- Your PC's webcam stopped working: ensure that Webcam Shield sensitivity is set to Smart or Strict. If Webcam Shield is set to No Mercy, Avast prevents all applications from accessing your PC's webcam.
Avast One is currently available only in Australia.
Disable Webcam Shield
Webcam Shield is enabled by default. We recommend always keeping Webcam Shield enabled and only disabling it for temporary troubleshooting purposes.
To disable Webcam Shield:
- Double-click the Avast One shortcut on your desktop to open the application.
- Click the Personal Identity tile on the Avast One dashboard.
- Select Webcam Shield.
- Click the green (ON) slider so it changes to orange (OFF), then specify for how long Webcam Shield will remain disabled.
- Click Ok, stop to confirm.
Webcam Shield is now disabled. To manually enable it, click the orange (OFF) slider so that it changes to green (ON).
Modify Settings
To adjust how Webcam Shield handles applications that attempt to access your webcam:
- Double-click the Avast One shortcut on your desktop to open the application.
- Click the Personal Identity tile on the Avast One dashboard.
- Select Webcam Shield.
- Configure Webcam Shield sensitivity by selecting one of the modes below:
- Untrusted apps require my permission (Smart mode) (selected by default): automatically allows trusted applications to access your webcam. If an untrusted application attempts to access your webcam, a notification appears asking you to allow or block the application. After selecting an option, the application appears on the List of blocked apps or List of allowed apps where you can view its status and select additional actions.
- Any apps require my permission (Strict mode): notifies you every time any application attempts to access your webcam and allows you to decide if the application is blocked or allowed. After selecting an option, the application appears on the List of blocked apps or List of allowed apps where you can view its status and select additional actions.
- All apps are automatically blocked (No mercy mode): automatically blocks all applications that attempt to access your webcam.
Webcam Shield determines trusted applications based on Avast Reputation Services, which reviews the application's certification information and analyzes how many users have the application installed.
Troubleshoot issues
Refer to the information below to troubleshoot common issues:
- Webcam Shield displays pop-ups too frequently: ensure that Webcam Shield sensitivity is set to Smart. If Webcam Shield is set to Strict, Avast notifies you every time any application attempts to access your PC's webcam.
- Your PC's webcam stopped working: ensure that Webcam Shield sensitivity is set to Smart or Strict. If Webcam Shield is set to No Mercy, Avast prevents all applications from accessing your PC's webcam.
- Avast Premium Security 21.x
- Avast Free Antivirus 21.x
- Avast One 21.x
- Avast One Free 21.x
- Avast Omni 21.x
- Microsoft Windows 10 Home / Pro / Enterprise / Education - 32 / 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows 8.1 / Pro / Enterprise - 32 / 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows 8 / Pro / Enterprise - 32 / 64-bit
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic / Home Premium / Professional / Enterprise / Ultimate - Service Pack 1 with Convenient Rollup Update, 32 / 64-bit