Antiviruses are essential programs for every PC with a Windows operating system, since most of the threats present on the network are designed for the Microsoft system. Antiviruses, however, are also heavy programs , which working in the background perform a constant and continuous check for viruses on the computer.
When we visit a folder full of files or a folder that hosts a very heavy program (such as a game or a graphics program) the antivirus will start to scan all open files, significantly slowing down the responsiveness of the computer.
To prevent the antivirus from scanning where it shouldn't, in this guide we will show you how to exclude some folders and files from the antivirus check, so that you can open the files and programs it contains at a faster speed. Obviously we will have to pay more attention to the type of file that we are going to place in the "avoided" folders: if we accidentally move a virus, it will be free to infect our PC without the antivirus being able to intervene.
How to exclude folders from antivirus scan
Since many antiviruses are available for the Windows operating system, in this guide we will examine only the free antiviruses, that is the most famous ones and used by home users. Many of the steps shown are also identical on the paid versions of the antiviruses treated, so we can use them as a basis to understand which menu to use and which item to activate in order to proceed with the exclusion.
Windows 10 security
Windows 10 integrates a very good antivirus, based on the scan engine and the signatures generated for Windows Defender. If we do not want to install other antiviruses, we can also be satisfied with the protection offered by the system but, if we need to exclude some folders from the scanning process, proceed as follows: we open the Start menu at the bottom left, we search for Windows Security, we open the corresponding entry then click on the Virus and Threat Protection section.
In the new screen, click on the Manage settings item (present in the Virus and threat protection settings section), then scroll down the page until you find the Add or remove exclusions item .
In the new screen we click Add an exclusion and choose, in the drop-down menu, the item Folder (if we intend to add a path) or File (to add a single file).
Avira Antivirus Free
One of the best free antivirus for Windows is Avira Antivirus Free. If we have installed this antivirus on our computer, we can exclude paths and folders from the scan by clicking on the antivirus icon (bottom right), then clicking on the small gear icon in the bottom left and, in the menu of the settings, taking us to the path Computer security> Real-time protection> Exceptions .
Click on the button with the three dots (...) to open the path to be excluded, then click on Add to add it to the list of antivirus exclusions.
Avast Antivirus Free
Another famous free and effective antivirus for Windows is Avast Antivirus Free. To exclude a folder from the scan, click on the bottom right of the antivirus icon, go to the Settings > General path, scroll down and finally select the item Exclusions to expand the section.
To add the exclusion, click the Browse button, next to the File paths item, add the folder to be excluded, then click OK on the bottom to confirm.
Kaspersky Free
One of the best paid antivirus is definitely Kaspersky, which has also released a free version of its product, which can be used without limits in the home, namely Kaspersky Free. To add an exception to this antivirus, click on the corresponding icon at the bottom right, click on the gear icon at the bottom left of the interface then go to the Advanced > Threats and exclusions path; from here we scroll the page until we find the Manage exclusions item (under the Exclusions section).
In the new window that appears, click on the Add button and specify the path to be excluded from the scans.
Bitdefender Free
Another effective and light antivirus that we can install on our system is Bitdefender Free. If we are among the users of this antivirus, we can add an exclusion by clicking on the program icon at the bottom right, clicking on the gear icon at the top and selecting the Quarantine or Quarantine menu.
Here we will be able to see the files that have been scanned and blocked by the antivirus; to exclude a file, click on the arrow symbol next to it to add it to the special list of exclusions (also accessible from the Settings menu).
AVG AntiVirus Free
Another popular computer antivirus is AVG AntiVirus Free. If we use this antivirus, we can add a folder to the scan exclusions by clicking on the top Menu button -> Settings and, in the General tab, click Exclusions .
The steps to follow are very similar to those seen for Avast: click on Browse and go to the path to be added, then click OK at the bottom to confirm our choice.
Conclusions
Thanks to the steps we have shown you in this guide, we will be able to exclude a folder or file from the antivirus scan, so as to avoid losing it or damaging it due to an overzealous scan engine.Carrying out this operation obviously requires greater attention when browsing the Internet and, in particular, when we download crack, torrents, illegal downloads, screensavers, ringtones, emoticons and so on in one of the excluded folders; please, we never set the Downloads folder as excluded from scans !
In this regard, we can continue reading our articles, in which we have shown you how to scan each file before downloading them from the internet and how to prevent browsing in insecure and dangerous websites .
If you are looking for a very light and non-invasive antivirus (for very novice users), we can read our guide on The lightest antivirus: how to prevent the PC from slowing down during protection and scanning .
