Password Protection is a privacy tool that secures passwords stored in your web browsers. If left unprotected, passwords stored in web browsers are vulnerable to malware and theft by unwanted applications. This feature allows you to choose which applications have access to your saved passwords. Refer to the sections in this article to learn how to manage the settings available for Password Protection.
Modify Settings
Password Protection is enabled by default and automatically protects your passwords stored in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Avast Secure Browser. When an unknown application tries to access your browser passwords, you are prompted to allow or block access. You can modify these settings by following the steps below:
- Open Avast Antivirus, then go to Privacy ▸ Password Protection.
- Click
Settings (the gear icon) in the top right corner.
- The following settings are available:
- Disable or enable Password Protection using the slider.
- View supported browsers that are password protected.
- Select an action for when unknown applications attempt to access your saved passwords:
- Ask me to allow or block it (selected by default): You are asked to grant permission when an application tries to access your passwords.
- Silently block the app: Applications are automatically blocked without any notification. Blocked applications are added to the list of blocked apps.
- Click View allowed / blocked apps to go directly to the Blocked & Allowed apps settings screen.
Manage Blocked & Allowed apps
After you allow or deny an application access to your passwords, it is automatically added to the relevant list on the Blocked & Allowed apps settings screen. For information about accessing and managing the Blocked & Allowed apps, refer to the following article:
Disable Password Protection
Password Protection is enabled by default. To ensure your security, we recommend keeping Password Protection enabled and only disabling it for temporary troubleshooting purposes.
To disable Password Protection:
- Open Avast Antivirus, then go to Privacy ▸ Password Protection.
- Click the green (ON) slider so that it changes to red (OFF), then select a time duration to disable Password Protection.
- Click OK, stop to confirm.
Password Protection is now disabled. To enable it, follow step 1 above, then click the red (OFF) slider so that it changes to green (ON).
Troubleshooting
Refer to the information below to troubleshoot common issues:
Password Protection does not appear in the Privacy menu
- Ensure you are using the latest version of Avast Premium Security:
- Go to
☰
Menu ▸ Settings. - Select General ▸ Update.
- Click Check for updates in the application section.
- Go to
A trusted application cannot access your stored passwords
- Ensure that the app is not included on your List of blocked apps:
- Go to
☰
Menu ▸ Settings. - Select General ▸ Blocked & Allowed apps.
- From the Blocked & Allowed apps screen you can see which applications are blocked from accessing your passwords.
- Go to
- If Password Protection is set to Silently block the app, Avast Antivirus automatically prevents all unknown applications from accessing your stored passwords. Check your Password Protection Settings to manage this action.
Further recommendations
For more information about Password Protection, refer to the following article:
Password Protection is a privacy tool that informs you if your passwords have been leaked online in a data breach and secures the passwords stored in your web browsers. If left unprotected, passwords stored in web browsers are vulnerable to malware and theft by unwanted applications. This feature allows you to choose which applications have access to your saved passwords. Refer to the sections in this article to learn how to manage the settings available for Password Protection.
Check for leaked passwords
Follow the steps below to check if any online accounts that use your email address have already been involved in a data breach:
- Open Avast One, then select
Explore ▸ Password Protection.
- Click Open Password Protection.
- Enter the email address you want to check, then click Check data breaches.
Password Protection searches for data breaches involving the email address you entered, then displays details of any affected online accounts. Refer to the relevant information below:
- If you see the Compromised passwords message at the top of the screen, we have found that at least one of your online accounts has been involved in a data breach. We recommend you immediately change the passwords for all listed accounts.
- If you see 0 Passwords next to your email address, we have not found any data breaches involving your online accounts.
If you have the paid version of Avast One, optionally click Monitor for new breaches to set Password Protection to continuously monitor for data breaches involving this email address.

Monitor for data breaches
In the paid version of Avast One, you can set Password Protection to continuously monitor up to 5 email addresses for data breaches. Your Avast Account email address is automatically added as a monitored email address. To add an additional monitored email address:
- Go to
Explore ▸ Password Protection.
- Click Open Password Protection.
- Select the Breach monitoring tab, then click + Add an email.
- Enter your email address, then click Monitor for data breaches.
- A message with a verification link is sent to your email address. Open the email and follow the instructions to confirm that the email address is really yours. Then return to Avast One and click Email is verified ▸ Done.
Avast One will now continuously monitor this email address for new data breaches. You can check for breached online accounts at any time by clicking the Compromised passwords tab on the main Password Protection screen.
Remove an email
To remove an email address from the Breach monitoring tab:
- Click
…
(three dots) next to the relevant email address, then select Remove email. - Click Stop protecting to confirm.
Manage browser protection behavior
In the paid version of Avast One, the Browser protection tab contains settings for protecting your passwords stored in browsers and managing which applications are allowed or blocked access to those stored browser passwords.
Protect browser passwords
Password Protection automatically protects your passwords that are saved in the following browsers:
- Google Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
- Avast Secure Browser
To temporarily disable this protection:
- Select the Browser protection tab, then untick the box next to Protect browser passwords.
- Select a time duration.
- Click OK, Stop to confirm.
Access to browser passwords
To adjust how Password Protection handles applications that attempt to access your stored passwords:
- Click the drop-down arrow to select an action for when a new application tries to access your saved passwords.
- Select your preferred setting:
- Automatically block access: Applications are automatically blocked without any notification. Blocked applications are added to the app permissions list.
- Ask me to allow or block the first time (selected by default): You are asked to grant permission when an application tries to access your passwords.
Manage app permissions
When an application attempts to access your saved passwords, it is added to the app permissions list with the status set to Blocked or Allowed, depending on the setting or permission you granted. You can also manually add applications to the app permissions list by following the steps below:
- Select the Browser protection tab and scroll to the App permissions section.
- Click + Add application.
- Select an app using either method below:
- Click Add next to an application in the list.
- Click Select app location, then navigate to an application and click Open.
- Click Add next to an application in the list.
- The chosen application is added to the App permissions list with the status set to Blocked. Optionally, click the slider to change the status to Allowed if you want the application to always be able to access your stored passwords.
To remove an application from the app permissions list, tick the box next to the relevant application, then click Remove app.
Troubleshooting
If you find that a trusted application cannot access your stored passwords, check the following:
- Ensure that the application is not marked as Blocked on the app permissions list. If it is marked as Blocked, click the slider to change the status to Allowed.
- Ensure you have selected the setting Ask me to allow or block the first time. If Password Protection is set to Automatically block access, Avast One automatically prevents all unknown applications from accessing your stored passwords.
- Add the application to the app permissions list and set the status to Allowed.
Further recommendations
For more information about Password Protection, refer to the following article:
- Avast Premium Security 21.x for Windows
- Avast One 21.x for Windows
- Microsoft Windows 11 Home / Pro / Enterprise / Education
- 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
Updated on: June-02-2022