Many users report experiencing that their Avast Mail Shield will not turn on.
So, if you’re part of this demographic and you can’t get your hands on a fix guide, we got you!
In this tutorial, we’ll be going over the complete list of steps you need to do to be able to activate or enable your Avast Mail Shield to keep emailing safer and more secure.
To activate your Avast Mail Shield properly, close and relaunch your Avast service. After that, perform a repair of the Avast program, and then run it as an administrator. If that doesn’t work, uninstall, and reinstall Avast and make sure that you’ll install the latest version.
Before we dive straight to the topic, let us first have a clearer discussion of why people disable or turn off the Mail Shield feature.
Why Turn Off Your Avast Mail Shield?
People turn their shields Avast program shields off for various reasons, but among the most common reasons are the following:
- They’re unable to access websites, webpages, and some emails
- To be able to save space for other processes
- The feature is not needed
Turning it off or disabling it is easy, as well as turning it on. But what reasons are there for the feature to malfunction or not work?
Why Your Avast Mail Shield Will Not Turn On
Avast, like any other program or application, could malfunction if it’s subjected to certain instances and situations.
We did our part and searched for the culprits of the dilemma, and based on our findings, the following are the most common reasons why this happens:
- Incorrect start-up of the app/program
- Outdated Avast app version
- The app is need of a repair
- Incompatibility with other apps and programs
How To Troubleshoot – Avast Mail Shield Not Turning On?
If you’re having trouble turning your Avast Mail Shield on, here are some of the things you can perform to enable or turn it on successfully.
Step #1: Close and Relaunch Your Avast Program
The first step is to try closing and relaunching the Avast program. Oftentimes, this is enough to fix and resolve all issues concerning the Avast program.
Turning it off isn’t done like what you do with other programs because Avast runs in the background even if you exit or close it out of the window.
So, what you want to do is open the Task Manager on your device.
For Windows, click on Ctrl + Alt + Delete > Task Manager to open. For macOS, though, you can access it by clicking Mac + Option + Esc.
When open, locate the running app or program of Avast, and clear it from running even in the background.
Step #2: Repair Your Avast App/Program
After you clear and close it out of the system, what you want to do next is perform a repair of the Avast program.
This process will only be possible when you initiate the uninstallation of the program.
Here’s how you can repair your Avast program:
- On your PC, go to the Control Panel or Apps & Features.
- After that, search for the Avast Antivirus Program.
- Select Uninstall and confirm the action.
- On the uninstallation prompt, choose Repair on the right side.
- Wait for the repair to finish, and then perform a restart.
Step #3: Run Avast as an Administrator
When your computer boots back up, try running it as an Avast Administrator.
You can do this by right-clicking on the Avast icon and clicking Run as Administrator.
Doing so will allow Avast to run without the need to ask for permissions.
Step #4: Check For Avast Updates
Before you proceed to the further steps, make sure that the Avast client version you’re using is up to date. You can check this straight from the Avast program.
- Open and launch Avast and select Menu from the top-right part.
- Go to Settings > Update.
From there, check the prompt and see if it has an update available. Update it if it’s not in its latest version. Otherwise, leave it as it is.
Step #5: Uninstall and Remove Avast From Your Device
The next thing you want to do is push through with the uninstallation of Avast from your device. You can do this in two (2) ways: by uninstalling it from your computer or by using Avastclear.
Uninstalling From Computer
Similar to the process of repairing, you can do this by performing the following steps:
- Access Control Panel or Apps & Features.
- Scroll down and locate Avast from the list of programs.
- Click More > Uninstall.
From there, your Avast program will be removed from your device completely.
Uninstalling Using Avastclear
Another process you can perform is to uninstall your antivirus program using Avastclear.
It produces the same results; the only difference is that all Avast programs are going to be removed, not just the active ones you’re using.
You can do this by following these steps:
- Download and install Avastclear on your device.
- Target and save it on a spot on your desktop.
- When that’s done, boot your computer/laptop in Safe Mode.
- Then, locate the folder where you saved it.
- Execute the uninstall tool or facility and choose the Avast program you want to remove.
After doing this 5-step process, reboot or restart your computer to allow the changes to take effect.
Step #6: Download the Latest Avast Version You Want
When it’s uninstalled, download the latest Avast version you want and the specific program you’re looking for.
Here are the different Avast products you can choose from:
- Avast Free Antivirus
- Avast Premier Antivirus
- Avast Internet Security
- Avast Pro Antivirus
Step #7: Activate or Enable Avast Mail Shield
Wait for the download to finish, and then activate the Avast Mail Shield by accessing Avast.
Once open, go to Protection > Core Shields > Avast Mail Shield.
When you’ve done these steps successfully, your Avast Mail Shield should now activate or turn on without any problem.
The process is simple, easy, and you would rarely need to ask for assistance from Avast’s customer support team, unless, of course, it still doesn’t work.
Avast Mail Shield Still Won’t Turn On
There’ll be instances where the issue would persist even after you’ve performed the steps accurately, and in these cases, it could already be a problem of the client or the device you’re using.
In these types of cases, the next best thing to do is be in contact with Avast’s client support team.
Let them know what the problem is and inform them of the troubleshooting steps you’ve already done and accomplished.
Thus, to fix your Avast Mail Shield not turning on, close and relaunch the program, then run it as an administrator. Uninstall the current program you have installed and reinstall the newest and latest version holistically.
Read Next: Avast Says My Router is Not Configured Correctly – (Fixed)
Conclusion
If you find that your Avast Mail Shield will not turn on, you have this tutorial to help and guide you through it.
You can use this guide the next time you find yourself in need of guidance on how you can accurately get rid of this specific problem.
Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.