Best Antivirus Protection/scanner For Mac

1. Avira Free Antivirus For Mac
2. Best Antivirus Protection/scanner For Mac 2017
3. Best Antivirus Protection/scanner For Mac Free

Fortunately, there are many fantastic anti-malware platforms designed to give your Mac a booster shot against the latest viruses, adware, and ransomware,. Many of them are made by the same companies that produce the solutions. The best free antivirus for Mac Avast Security for Mac Avast Security for Mac is one of the most popular security suites available, and it’s easy to see why. It’s effective and free for non-commercial use, providing on-demand tools for quickly performing full-system malware scans, as well as sifting through specific email threads, attachments, and various web activities like web pages, downloads, and JavaScripts. Furthermore, it offers drag-and-drop scanning for individual files and phishing protection, along with the ability to scan external drives and attached volumes for potential infections. You can also initiate scans for connected devices like external hard drives.

We spent several months testing how well these antivirus programs recognize threats like Trojans, ransomware and malicious websites on Mac computers. After all our testing and research, we feel Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac is the best antivirus protection for Mac users.

The application’s interface is straightforward and self-explanatory, and features a navigational pane on the left that consists of five primary buttons and a real-time graph that aggregates shield activity and allows users to quickly check the overall stats of their computer. The free version also offers to install two other programs during installation: Avast Internet Security ($30 per year) and Avast SecureLine VPN ($60 per year). Neither are necessary for detecting and removing malware, however, so pay attention during installation if you don’t want them.

Avira Free Antivirus For Mac

Download it: The rest Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac Windows users have long turned to Malwarebytes’ free version, affectionately known as MBAM, as a backup for always-on malware software. The Mac Malwarebytes version started as an adware removal tool, but as of today, it’s also a full-fledged tool for protecting your machine against other forms of malware. Plus, it’s just as effective in MacOS as it is in Windows, a fact that’s aided by the Malwarebytes team’s constant research on current threats — the company identified the in 2017. Using the program couldn’t be easier. Just launch it, hit scan, and the software will quickly let you know if you’re infected with any Mac-specific malware — oftentimes. Like the Windows iteration of the free version, though, this is not an always-on solution and is thus more suited for performing deep scans and ridding yourself of particularly pernicious MacOS.

There are scheduling and proactive blocks, but these features expire after two weeks if you are using the free version. To get live protection you’d need to pay for the premium version, which starts at $40 for a year. Download it: Sophos Antivirus Mac Home Edition Straddling the line somewhere between necessity and excess, Sophos offers all the basic utilities you’ve come to expect from quality antivirus software, and a whole lot more. It has custom, on-demand, and scheduled scans for specified files, folders, and drives, along with additional tools for deleting and quarantining any software Sophos deems a potential threat. The software even incorporates real-time protection features that will quarantine unknown files that are exhibiting suspicious behavior. Although the program has a tendency to scan slower than most, it’s fairly lightweight and non-obtrusively performs vital background tasks while barely leeching or exhausting your system’s resources.

Despite its robust feature set, Sophos manages to cram all this functionality into a compact interface. Initiating a full-system scan can be done directly from the top of the main menu, and you can configure exemptions quickly from easily navigable menus. The malware definitions also are constantly being updated, ensuring the program is never without the latest knowledge of potential threats. It’s one of the most hands-off antivirus programs on the market, and as such, sits among the best.

Download it: Bitdefender Virus Scanner Built upon Bitdefender’s award-winning antivirus engine, Bitdefender Virus Scanner features a host of scan options, allowing you to quickly perform deep scans of your entire system, or those targeting specific locations. If you grant it access, the streamlined program even provides an option for scanning critical locations — such as your Mac’s launch agents and the entirety of your system library — thus allowing you to bypass lengthier scans when pressed for time. Moreover, it automatically updates with Bitdefender’s hourly malware definitions prior to scanning, while providing a quick means for blacklisting specific locations from system scans.

Bitdefender Virus Scanner automatically tries to disinfect and quarantine suspicious files it comes across, and though the feature is not unique to Bitdefender’s offering, the software can also quickly search for malware within various archives and file types (PDF, PKG, ZIP, RAR, etc.). From the homescreen, you can choose four different scanning options, in addition to an update button and a “view quarantine” button. It’s all very easy to understand and use. Download it: Avira Free Antivirus for Mac Avira strikes a nice balance between ease of use and quick access to advanced utilities, ultimately rendering basic system scans just as simple to execute as those that are scheduled and file-specific. The software is equipped with standard spyware and adware protection, along with the ability to intercept harmful websites and block tracking.

Best Antivirus Protection/scanner For Mac 2017

If the software finds an infected file or folder, it can repair/delete the problem so you don’t have to worry about it again. Unlike most of the software in our roundup, Avira is coupled with a moderately lengthy installation and an update process that goes hand in hand with the software’s heavy use of system resources.

Best Antivirus Protection/scanner For Mac Free

It’s certainly not a dealbreaker when you consider the nonexistent price tag and its thorough antivirus engine, but it’s an unfortunate downside. Avira’s full-feature interface uses a left-hand navigational bar for viewing the status of your system, scheduling tasks, and viewing past quarantine history, among other options. Virus definitions are updated in a timely fashion, too, regardless of how long the initial updates might take to finish. It’s resource heavy, but capable enough if you’re looking for automation, scan history, and other advanced features.