In Avast Free Antivirus and Avast Premium Security you can set a password to protect access to the application and/or the application settings. This article explains how to protect Avast Antivirus with a password and how to regain access to your application if you forget your password.

Protect Avast Antivirus with a password

1. Open Avast Antivirus and go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings.
2. Ensure the General tab is selected, then click Password ▸ Create new password.
3. Enter a password into the first box, then re-enter the password into the second box. Click Create new password.
4. Select one of the following options:
   • Require password to open Avast and access settings: Enables password protection for opening Avast Antivirus and accessing the application Settings.
   • Protect access to Settings only: Enables password protection only for accessing Settings within Avast Antivirus.
   

Your password is set. Now when you attempt to access the password-protected areas, you are required to enter your password and click Enter.

To change or remove your password, go to ☰ Menu ▸ Settings ▸ General ▸ Password, then click Change password or Remove password.

Regaining access to Avast Antivirus without a password

If you are unable to remember your password, you can regain access to password-protected areas of Avast Antivirus by following the steps below:

1. Start Windows in Safe Mode by following the steps in the article below:
   • Restarting Microsoft Windows in Safe Mode
2. Uninstall Avast Antivirus and restart Windows in normal mode. We recommend referring to the following article for uninstallation instructions:
   • Using the Avast Uninstall Tool
3. Reinstall Avast Antivirus. For installation instructions, refer to the relevant article below according to your product version:
   • Installing Avast Premium Security | Installing Avast Free Antivirus

After reinstalling Avast Antivirus, you can access the application without a password. You can then set a new password.