Before you do anything else make sure that the file your antivirus is concerned about is actually legitimate. Look at its location on your computer, look at why your antivirus is flagging it up. Have a search on Google by typing in the name of the software that is being flagged up, the name of your antivirus and ‘false positive’ behind it. Make sure to take a look at our best picks for antivirus and VPN software to help keep yourself safe. Google the warning you get from the antivirus, there will be records online of what the problem is and why it has been flagged. While Antivirus software isn’t perfect and does make mistakes, it usually knows what it is talking about and there is probably a reason why it thinks this particular file is suspicious. If you have been through these steps and you are 100% convinced that your antivirus has it wrong, then you can carry on with the following steps.
What to do when your antivirus gives you a false positive
Head into the settings for your antivirus software. You will usually find the interface for this in the toolbar at the bottom right.Once you have opened it up, make your way through the settings to find the ‘white list’. This could be called several different things, such as ‘Allowed list’ or ‘Exceptions’ or something of that nature.Once you have found it, you can add the .exe file that is throwing up the false positive to this white list. You may need to add the path to the .exe file which you can find by right-clicking on the short-cut and pasting the text found in the ‘target’ field.
