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Email Guard - Getting Started

 
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: Avast One Email Guard - Getting Started.

Protect emails online

Email Guard scans incoming emails in up to 5 online email accounts, enhancing your safety when checking emails from any device or browser. To use this feature, you need a paid subscription for Avast Premium Security.

To monitor your email accounts with Email Guard:

  1. Open Avast Premium Security, then select Scam Guardian and click Open in the Email Guard panel.
  2. If you are not already signed in, click Sign in to Avast Account.
  3. Click Add email account.
  4. Enter your email address, then click Continue.
    If you see the error message Sorry, we can't connect to that account yet, your email account is currently not compatible with Email Guard. However, we are working on adding supported email providers.
 

Select the relevant option below for instructions to connect your email account:

  1. Click Sign in to open Gmail, then sign in to your Gmail account.
  2. To configure your mailbox to work with Email Guard, tick the boxes next to See and edit your email labels and Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account, then click Continue.
    The Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account permission is a requirement in Google API rules for third-party apps. This permission needs to be granted to check emails for suspicious content and assign a corresponding label.
  3. Click Got it.
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.
  1. Click Sign in to open Outlook, then sign in to your Outlook account.
  2. Click Accept to give Avast permission to Let this app access your info?.
  3. Click Got it.

Configure your email account

For some email providers, you need to set up your email account to work with Email Guard. If your email provider is listed in the table below, click the relevant link to follow the instructions on your email provider's support website. If you have already set up your email account to work with Email Guard, follow the steps below to complete the process in Avast Premium Security.

Email providerSetupInstructions
AOLApp-specific password (only needed if two-factor authentication is on)AOL ▸ Create and manage third-party app passwords
ComcastAllow access to third-party programsComcast ▸ Turn your access to third-party email programs on or off in Xfinity Email
Cox.netApp-specific password (after transitioning to Yahoo.com)Yahoo ▸ Update your cox.net email settings in Outlook, Mail on Mac and other third-party email clients
GMXEnable IMAPGMX ▸ Activate or deactivate POP3 and IMAP
Mail.ruApp-specific passwordMail.ru ▸ IMAP, SMTP и POP3 Mail.ru
SeznamApp-specific passwordSeznam ▸ IMAP, POP3, SMTP
Web.deEnable IMAPWeb.de ▸ Serverdaten für IMAP und SMTP
YahooApp-specific passwordYahoo ▸ Generate and manage third-party app passwords
YandexEnable IMAP

App-specific password		Yandex ▸ Configuring desktop email clients
  1. If you have already set up your email account to work with Email Guard, then continue with the relevant screen below according to your email provider's requirements:
    If you see an error message, click Try again. If the setup continues to fail, click Close, and try again from the beginning using the exact steps in this article. If the set up continues to fail, ensure the email address you are trying to add is compatible with Email Guard, then contact Avast Support for further assistance.
    • App password: Enter your app-specific password, then click Continue.
    • Email password: Enter your email password, then click Continue.
  2. Click Got it.

Email Guard is monitoring the email account.

To add additional email accounts, click Add email account on the Email Guard screen and follow the relevant steps in this article. You can add a maximum of 5 email accounts to Email Guard.

Enable AI-powered scam detection

Switch the slider beside Use AI-powered scam detection to allow Email Guard to use AI when checking your emails for threats. Suspicious emails detected by this feature are marked with an Avast: Scam label in your inbox.

Remove an email account

To stop Email Guard from monitoring an email account:

  1. Open Avast Premium Security, then select Scam Guardian and click Open in the Email Guard panel.
  2. Navigate to the relevant email account panel, hover your cursor over it, and click the X icon.
  3. Click Yes, remove.

Your email account is removed from Email Guard and is no longer monitored for malicious or phishing emails.

Protect emails on your device

Mail Shield scans for malware in emails sent or received through any email client application installed on your Windows device, including Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird. This feature is enabled by default.

To ensure Mail Shield is monitoring your email client applications:

  1. Open Avast Premium Security, then select Protection ▸ Core Shields.
  2. Ensure the slider above Mail Shield is green (ON).
  3. To optionally configure Mail Shield settings, select Settings (the gear icon).
  4. Configure the Mail Shield settings according to your preferences.
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: Avast One Email Guard - Getting Started.

Protect emails online

Email Guard scans incoming emails in up to 5 online email accounts, enhancing your safety when checking emails from any device or browser. To use this feature, you need a paid subscription to Avast Premium Security.

To monitor your email accounts online:

  1. Open Avast Premium Security and select Email Guard.
  2. Ensure the Overview tab is selected, then click + Add a mailbox.
  3. If you are not already signed in to your Avast Account, click Sign in.
  4. Enter your email address, then click Sign in.
    If you see the error message Sorry, we can't connect to that account yet, your email account is currently not compatible with Email Guard. However, we are working on adding supported email providers.
 

Select the relevant option below for instructions to connect your email account:

  1. Sign in to your Gmail email account.
  2. To configure your mailbox to work with Email Guard, tick the boxes next to See and edit your email labels and Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account, then click Continue.
    The Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account permission is a requirement in Google API rules for third-party apps. This permission needs to be granted to check emails for suspicious content and assign a corresponding label.
  3. Click Got it.
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.
  1. Sign in to your Outlook account.
  2. Click Accept to give Avast permission to Let this app access your info?.
  3. Click Got it.

Configure your email account

For some email providers, you need to set up your email account to work with Email Guard. If your email provider is listed in the table below, click the relevant link to follow the instructions on your email provider's support website. After setting up your email account to work with Email Guard, follow the steps below to complete the process in Avast Premium Security.

Email providerSetupInstructions
AOLApp-specific password (only needed if two-factor authentication is on)AOL ▸ Create and manage third-party app passwords
ComcastAllow access to third-party programsComcast ▸ Turn your access to third-party email programs on or off in Xfinity Email
Cox.netApp-specific password (after transitioning to Yahoo.com)Yahoo ▸ Update your cox.net email settings in Outlook, Mail on Mac and other third-party email clients
GMXEnable IMAPGMX ▸ Activate or deactivate POP3 and IMAP
Mail.ruApp-specific passwordMail.ru ▸ IMAP, SMTP и POP3 Mail.ru
SeznamApp-specific passwordSeznam ▸ IMAP, POP3, SMTP
Web.deEnable IMAPWeb.de ▸ Serverdaten für IMAP und SMTP
YahooApp-specific passwordYahoo ▸ Generate and manage third-party app passwords
YandexEnable IMAP

App-specific password		Yandex ▸ Configuring desktop email clients
  1. If you have already set up your email account to work with Email Guard, then continue with the relevant screen below according to your email provider's requirements:
    If you see an error message, click Try again. If the setup continues to fail, click Close, and try again from the beginning using the exact steps in this article. If the set up continues to fail, ensure the email address you are trying to add is compatible with Email Guard, then contact Avast Support for further assistance.
    • App-specific password: Enter your app-specific password, then click Sign in.
    • Email password: Enter your email password, then click Sign in.
  2. Click Got it.

Email Guard is monitoring the email account.

To add additional email accounts, click + Add a mailbox on the Email Guard screen and follow the relevant steps in this article. You can add a maximum of 5 email accounts to Email Guard.

Enable AI-powered scam detection

Switch the slider beside Use AI-powered scam detection to allow Email Guard to use AI when checking your emails for threats. Suspicious emails detected by this feature are marked with an Avast: Scam label in your inbox.

Remove an email account

To stop Email Guard from monitoring an email account:

  1. Open Avast Premium Security and select Email Guard.
  2. Under Protected mailboxes, hover your cursor over the relevant email account and click the X icon.
  3. Click Yes, stop monitoring.

Your email account is removed from Email Guard and is no longer monitored for malicious or phishing emails.

Protect emails on your device

Email Guard scans for malware in emails sent or received through any email client application installed on your Mac, including Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook. This feature is enabled by default in all versions of Avast Security.

To ensure Email Guard is monitoring your email client applications:

  1. Open Avast Premium Security and select Email Guard.
  2. In the Only on this Mac tile, ensure the slider is green (ON).
  3. To optionally configure Email Guard settings, select Settings (the gear icon).
  4. Configure the Email Guard settings according to your preferences.

Add exceptions

You can add domains that will be exempt from Email Guard scans. This applies only to the protection of mail applications installed on this Mac.

  1. Open Avast Premium Security and select Email Guard.
  2. Select Settings (the gear icon).
  3. Click Add exceptions.
  4. Enter the domain name you do not want to scan, choose the relevant protocols, and click Add.
To remove a server from the exception list, hover your cursor over the relevant item and click (the trash icon).
This article is about the Email Guard feature included in Avast Mobile Security Premium. For information about the Avast One version of Email Guard, refer to the following article: Avast One Email Guard - Getting Started.

Protect emails online

Email Guard scans incoming emails in up to 5 online email accounts, enhancing your safety when checking emails from any device or browser. To use this feature, you need a paid version of Avast Mobile Security Premium.

To monitor your email accounts online:

  1. Tap the Avast Mobile Security icon on your device. The app opens.
  2. Tap Explore ▸ Email Guard.
  3. If you are not already signed in to your Avast Account, click Sign in.
  4. Enter your Avast Account credentials and tap Continue.
    If you see the error message Sorry, we can't connect to that account yet, your email account is currently not compatible with Email Guard. However, we are working on adding supported email providers.
Select the relevant option below for instructions to connect your email account:
  1. Tap Add mailbox.
  2. Enter your email address and tap Continue.
  3. Tap Sign in and sign into your email account in the web browser window that appears.
  4. To configure your mailbox to work with Email Guard, tick the boxes next to See and edit your email labels and Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account, then tap Continue. Optionally, allow Avast Email Guard ongoing access to Google Account data so that you do not need to review access every 6 months.
    The Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account permission is a requirement in Google API rules for third-party apps. This permission needs to be granted to check emails for suspicious content and assign a corresponding label.
  5. Tap Got it to go back to the main Email Guard page.
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.
  1. Tap Add mailbox.
  2. Enter your email address and tap Continue.
  3. Tap Sign in and sign into your email account in the web browser window that appears.
  4. Tap Accept to give Avast permission to Let this app access your info?.
  5. Tap Got it to go back to the main Email Guard page.

Configure your email account

For some email providers, you need to set up your email account to work with Email Guard. If your email provider is listed in the table below, click the relevant link to follow the instructions on your email provider's support website. After setting up your email account to work with Email Guard, follow the steps below to complete the process in Avast Mobile Security Premium.

Email providerSetupInstructions
AOLApp-specific password (only needed if two-factor authentication is on)AOL ▸ Create and manage third-party app passwords
ComcastAllow access to third-party programsComcast ▸ Turn your access to third-party email programs on or off in Xfinity Email
Cox.netApp-specific password (after transitioning to Yahoo.com)Yahoo ▸ Update your cox.net email settings in Outlook, Mail on Mac and other third-party email clients
GMXEnable IMAPGMX ▸ Activate or deactivate POP3 and IMAP
Mail.ruApp-specific passwordMail.ru ▸ IMAP, SMTP и POP3 Mail.ru
SeznamApp-specific passwordSeznam ▸ IMAP, POP3, SMTP
Web.deEnable IMAPWeb.de ▸ Serverdaten für IMAP und SMTP
YahooApp-specific passwordYahoo ▸ Generate and manage third-party app passwords
YandexEnable IMAP

App-specific password		Yandex ▸ Configuring desktop email clients
  1. If you have already set up your email account to work with Email Guard, then continue with the relevant step below according to your email provider's requirements:
    If you see an error message, tap Try again. If the setup continues to fail, tap Close, and try again from the beginning using the exact steps in this article. If the set up continues to fail, ensure the email address you are trying to add is compatible with Email Guard, then contact Avast Support for further assistance.
    • App-specific password: Enter your app-specific password, then tap Continue.
    • Email password: Enter your email password, then tap Continue.
  2. Tap Got it to go back to the main Email Guard page.

Email Guard is monitoring the email account.

To add additional email accounts, click Add mailbox on the Email Guard screen and follow the relevant steps in this article. You can add a maximum of 5 email accounts to Email Guard.

Enable AI-powered scam detection

Tap the slider beside AI scam detection to allow Email Guard to use AI when checking your emails for threats. Suspicious emails detected by this feature are marked with an Avast: Scam label in your inbox.

Remove an email account

To stop Email Guard from monitoring an email account:

  1. Tap the Avast Mobile Security icon on your device. The app opens.
  2. Tap Explore ▸ Email Guard.
  3. Tap (the trash icon) ▸ Remove.

Your email account is removed from Email Guard and is no longer monitored for malicious or phishing emails.

This article is about the Email Guard feature included in Avast Mobile Security Premium. For information about the Avast One version of Email Guard, refer to the following article: Avast One Email Guard - Getting Started.

Protect emails online

Email Guard scans incoming emails in up to 5 online email accounts, enhancing your safety when checking emails from any device or browser. To use this feature, you need a paid version of Avast Mobile Security Premium.

To monitor your email accounts online:

  1. Tap the Avast Mobile Security icon on your device. The app opens.
  2. Under Avoid scams with Email Guard, tap Add email account twice.
  3. If you are not already signed in to your Avast Account, click Sign in.
  4. Enter your email address and tap Continue.
    If you see the error message Sorry, we can't connect to that account yet, your email account is currently not compatible with Email Guard. However, we are working on adding supported email providers.
Select the relevant option below for instructions to connect your email account:
  1. Tap Sign in and sign into your email account in the web browser window that appears.
  2. To configure your mailbox to work with Email Guard, tick the boxes next to See and edit your email labels and Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account, then tap Continue.
    The Read, compose, and send emails from your Gmail account permission is a requirement in Google API rules for third-party apps. This permission needs to be granted to check emails for suspicious content and assign a corresponding label.
  3. Tap Got it to go back to the main Email Guard page.
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.
  1. Tap Sign in and sign into your email account in the web browser window that appears.
  2. Tap Accept to give Avast permission to Let this app access your info?.
  3. Tap Got it to go back to the main Email Guard page.

Configure your email account

For some email providers, you need to set up your email account to work with Email Guard. If your email provider is listed in the table below, click the relevant link to follow the instructions on your email provider's support website. After setting up your email account to work with Email Guard, follow the steps below to complete the process in Avast Mobile Security Premium.

Email providerSetupInstructions
AOLApp-specific password (only needed if two-factor authentication is on)AOL ▸ Create and manage third-party app passwords
ComcastAllow access to third-party programsComcast ▸ Turn your access to third-party email programs on or off in Xfinity Email
Cox.netApp-specific password (after transitioning to Yahoo.com)Yahoo ▸ Update your cox.net email settings in Outlook, Mail on Mac and other third-party email clients
GMXEnable IMAPGMX ▸ Activate or deactivate POP3 and IMAP
Mail.ruApp-specific passwordMail.ru ▸ IMAP, SMTP и POP3 Mail.ru
SeznamApp-specific passwordSeznam ▸ IMAP, POP3, SMTP
Web.deEnable IMAPWeb.de ▸ Serverdaten für IMAP und SMTP
YahooApp-specific passwordYahoo ▸ Generate and manage third-party app passwords
YandexEnable IMAP

App-specific password		Yandex ▸ Configuring desktop email clients
  1. If you have already set up your email account to work with Email Guard, then continue with the relevant screen below according to your email provider's requirements:
    If you see an error message, tap Try again. If the setup continues to fail, tap Close, and try again from the beginning using the exact steps in this article. If the set up continues to fail, ensure the email address you are trying to add is compatible with Email Guard, then contact Avast Support for further assistance.
    • App-specific password: Enter your app-specific password, then tap Continue.
    • Email password: Enter your email password, then tap Continue.
  2. Tap Got it to go back to the main Email Guard page.

Email Guard is monitoring the email account.

To add additional email accounts, click Add mailbox on the Email Guard screen and follow the relevant steps in this article. You can add a maximum of 5 email accounts to Email Guard.

Enable AI-powered scam detection

Tap the slider beside AI scam detection to allow Email Guard to use AI when checking your emails for threats. Suspicious emails detected by this feature are marked with an Avast: Scam label in your inbox.

Remove an email account

To stop Email Guard from monitoring an email account:

  1. Tap the Avast Mobile Security icon on your device. The app opens.
  2. Tap Open Email Guard.
  3. Tap ⋮ More options (the three dots) ▸ Remove mailbox

Your email account is removed from Email Guard and is no longer monitored for malicious or phishing emails.

Further recommendations

For more information about Email Guard, refer to the following article:

  • Avast Premium Security
  • Avast Mobile Security Premium
  • Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS


Updated on: 18/07/2025

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