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Avira Free Antivirus for Mac

By Avira Free Editors' Rating

Key Details of Avira Free Antivirus

  • Live your digital life securely and privately
  • Last updated on 03/24/21
  • There have been 8 updates within the past 6 months
  • The current version has 0 flags on VirusTotal badge_icon
  • Also available on Android, iOS, and Windows

Editors' Review

clifford.colby Nov 3, 2015

Avira Free Antivirus guards against malware without putting a strain on your Mac.

Pros

Clean interface: Avira Free Antivirus for Mac's minimalist dashboard presents a handful of controls for scanning your hard drive. You can initiate a new scan, schedule scans, view suspicious files, discover other Avira products, and customize security settings. The app also uses OS X's Notification Center to keep you informed of Avira activity.

Setting controls: Avira lets you decide when to delete performance-draining system activity logs. It also lets you set which files to scan, how aggressively to hunt down possible viruses, and the level of threat to identify -- from annoying to malicious.

Free: The Mac version of Avira's antivirus software is free. Avira's other security apps for Windows and mobile devices come in free versions and paid editions with a fuller slate of features.

Snappy: Past reviews dinged the app for lengthy download times and sluggish performance, but the latest version downloaded quickly and scanned and automatically updated its antivirus definitions imperceptibly.

Cons

At times too minimal: The icons along the left of the dashboard could do a better job of representing the capabilities contained on the tabs, and information on the tabs could be more descriptive. For example, the Real-Time Protection tab lets you toggle file protection on and off but offers no explanation of how the choices impact your Mac's security.

Bottom Line

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac is a worthy component of the company's respected antivirus software line, and according to independent testing lab AV-Test, the Mac version of Avira is a top security package. While Mac users can argue about whether Macs need malware protection, Avira Free Antivirus for Mac, with its austere interface and indiscernible hit on performance, is a low-risk guard against malware for OS X.

Full Specifications

What's new in version 1.5.3

Scheduled (preset) scans are no longer randomly assigned.
Corrected symlink attack in the Search service.
Fixed the rate limit issue in Connect client.

General

Release March 24, 2021
Date Added March 24, 2021
Version 1.5.3

Operating Systems

Operating Systems Macintosh
Additional Requirements
  • macOS Big Sur
  • macOS Catalina
  • macOS Mojave
  • macOS High Sierra
  • macOS Sierra
  • OS X El Capitan

Popularity

Total Downloads 123,394
Downloads Last Week 19
Report Software

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User Reviews

3.4/5
24 User Votes
5 Star
4 Star
3 Star
2 Star
1 Star

Developer's Description

Benefits at a glance:
Avira Free Security is the new power suite for Mac – designed with Apple’s latest technology stack.
● Smart scan: Checks for threats, privacy risks, and performance optimizations with 1 click.
● Multi-award-winning Antivirus: Blocks ransomware, spyware, adware and more.
● Privacy tools: Secures your browsing with Free VPN (500 MB/month) and secures your online accounts with a Password Manager
● Optimization tools: Includes a junk file cleaner to free up space on your Mac
● Private by design: Doesn’t sell your data I. Antivirus: Protects your macOS from threats
● Avoids all online threats (ransomware, viruses, banking trojans, spyware, etc.) with our award-winning antivirus
● Repairs or quarantines compromised files

II. VPN: Anonymizes your web browsing
· Encrypts your web traffic, securing all communications on any network (limit of 500 MB/month in the free version)
· Browse privately: assigns you a virtual IP address to mask your real location.

III. Password Manager: Secures your online accounts

· Creates unique and secure passwords for all your accounts
· Securely stores all your passwords for you
· Auto-fills your passwords to save you time
· Syncs your passwords across devices

III. Performance enhancements: Cleans your Mac
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