Avast Online Security browser extension - Getting Started

The Avast Online Security web browser extension improves your online security and overall experience when browsing the internet. The extension also offers various options to protect your online privacy.

Refer to the sections in this article to use the extension in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox:

Add or remove Avast Online Security

When you install Avast Antivirus on your PC, the Avast Online Security extension is automatically added to your browser and ready to use. If you opted out during the custom installation of Avast Antivirus, or if you want to remove the extension, follow the steps in the Alternative method section of this article:

• Adding or removing program components in Avast Antivirus

Turn off website tracking systems

Websites use website tracking systems to monitor visitor behaviors so that they can obtain statistics and other data for marketing purposes. The Avast Online Security browser extension enables you to see details of the tracking systems used by the websites you visit and turn them off to prevent being tracked. When you visit a site that uses tracking systems, the number of tracking systems is visible on the Avast Online Security icon at the top-right of your browser window.

The most common types of tracking systems are Social networks, Ad Tracking, and Web Analytics. Alternative types of tracking systems fall into the Others category.

Follow these steps to manage website tracking systems:

1. Click the Avast Online Security icon at the top-right of your browser window.
2. Click Social networks, Ad Tracking, Web Analytics or Others depending on what you want to block.
3. Click Block next to a specific tracking system or click Block all to block all tracking systems.

Selected tracking systems are blocked for the currently open website. To unblock them, click Allow.

Rate a website or view its rating

The Avast Online Security browser extension displays information about the browsing quality of the websites you visit based on the ratings from other users.

Click the Avast Online Security icon at the top-right of your browser window to see one of three possible ratings:

• This site is safe: other users rated a website positively.
• This site is unsafe: other users rated a website negatively.
• Unknown site: a website does not have enough ratings yet.

To contribute to the ratings, click the Positive or Negative button depending on your experience.

These ratings help you and other users to know whether the sites you visit are safe.

Manage your Avast Online Security settings

You can modify the Avast Online Security browser extension to suit your preferences. To access the settings, follow these steps:

1. Click the Avast Online Security icon at the top-right of your browser window.
2. Click More settings.
3. Tick or untick the following settings and sub-settings:
   • Antiphising: protects you from malware and phishing.
   • Do not track: blocks ads and prevents analytic sites from tracking you.
   • SiteCorrect: corrects mistyped URLs and ensures that the displayed website is the authentic one.
   • SafeZone: directs you to SafeZone when opening sensitive financial sites.
   • Data Sharing: allows you to anonymously forward certain information to Avast to help identify and react to the latest security threats as soon as possible.
   • Search engine results: enables coloring and pop-ups on search result page.
4. Click Save to confirm your changes.