Scanning the computer

During scanning, the application searches for infected files and malware. There are several types of scans that vary in their search duration and scope. You can pause, resume or stop all scan types except Background Scan.

• Full Scan. Scans all areas of the computer. This scan requires a lot of time to complete.
• Quick Scan. Scans objects that are loaded when the operating system starts as well as system memory and boot files. This scan does not require a lot of time to complete.
• Selective Scan. Scans the selected file or folder.
• Removable drives scan. Scan of removable drives, such as hard drives and USB sticks connected to the computer.
• Instant File Scan. This option scans files from the context menu.
• Background Scan. Scan of system memory, the system partition, boot sectors, and startup objects, as well as rootkits search.

• Application Vulnerability Scan. Scan the computer for vulnerabilities in applications that malware can exploit to infect your system.

After you install the application, we recommend that you perform a full scan of your computer.

How to run a Quick Scan

During a quick scan, the application scans the following objects by default:

• Objects loaded on operating system startup;
• System memory;
• Disk boot sectors.

To run a Quick Scan:

1. Open the main window of the application and perform the following actions:
   • Go to Home section, and click the Quick Scan button.
   • Go to the Security section.
     1. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.
     2. This opens the Scan window.
     3. In the Scan window select the Quick Scan section.
     4. In the Quick Scan section, click the Run button.

The application starts a quick scan of your computer.

Page top

How to run a Full Scan

During a full scan, the application scans the following objects by default:

• System memory;
• Objects loaded on operating system startup;
• System backup storage;
• Hard drives and removable drives.

We recommend running a full scan immediately after installing the application to your computer.

To run a Full Scan:

1. Open the main window of the application and go to the Security section.
2. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.

   This opens the Scan window.

3. In the Scan window select the Full Scan section.
4. In the drop-down list next to the Run button, select the action to perform when the scan is complete.
5. Click the Run button.

The application starts a full scan of your computer.

Page top

How to run a Custom Scan

A Selective Scan lets you scan a file, folder, or drive for viruses and other threats.

To run a Custom Scan:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Go to the Security section.
3. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.

   This opens the Scan window.

4. In the Scan window select the Selective Scan section.
5. Click the Select button and specify an object in the file or folder selection window that opens.
6. Click the Run button.

Page top

How to run a removable drive scan

Removable drives that you connect to the computer may contain viruses or other applications that present a threat. Kaspersky application scans removable drives to prevent your computer from becoming infected. You can configure a removable drive scan to be started manually or automatically when a removable drive is connected to the computer. Automatic scanning of removable drives is enabled by default.

To run a removable drive scan manually:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Go to the Security section.
3. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.

   This opens the Scan window.

4. In the Scan window select the Removable Drives Scan section.
5. Go to the Removable Drive Scan settings, and select one of the following options:
   • Quick Scan (selected by default)

     If you select this option, Kaspersky application will only scan files with certain formats that are the most susceptible to infection and are located in the root folder.

   • Detailed Scan

     If you select this option, Kaspersky application will scan all files located in every folder of the external device.

6. Go back to the Removable Drives Scan section. In the drop-down list, select the drive letter of the external device and click on the Run button.

The application will start scanning the connected device.

Page top

How to run a Context Menu File or Folder Scan

To run a Context Menu File or Folder Scan:

1. Right-click on the file or folder that needs to be scanned.
2. In the context menu that opens, select Scan for viruses.

The application will start scanning the selected file or folder.

In Microsoft Windows 11, you must expand the context menu of an object to see the application commands.

Page top

How to enable or disable a background scan

A Background scan is an automatic scan mode that does not display notifications. This scan requires fewer computer resources than other types of scans (for example, Full Scan). When in this mode, the application scans the system memory, system volumes, boot sectors and startup objects, and searches for rootkits.

A background scan is started in the following cases:

• After the databases and application modules are updated
• 30 minutes after application launch
• Every six hours
• If the computer remains idle for five or more minutes (after the screen saver is started)

A background scan is interrupted when any of the following conditions is met:

• The computer becomes active again.
• The computer (laptop) switches to battery mode.

If a background scan has not been performed for over ten days, the scan is not stopped. When running a background scan, the application does not scan files whose contents are located in OneDrive cloud storage.

To enable or disable a background scan:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Go to the Security section.
3. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.

   This opens the Scan window.

4. Click the icon in the Background Scan block.

   This opens the Background Scan settings window.

5. In the Background Scan settings window, switch the toggle to On or Off.

Page top

How to create a scan schedule

To create a scan schedule:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Go to the Security section.
3. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.

   This opens the Scan window.

4. In the Scan window, select the type of scan and click the icon.
5. In the opened window, click the Scan schedule link to proceed to the Scan schedule window.
6. In the Scan schedule window, in the Run scan list, select a period, such as Daily, and specify the time to start the scan.

A scan schedule cannot be created for the Scan from Context Menu or Background Scan.

Page top

How to search for vulnerabilities in applications installed on your computer

Applications installed on your computer may have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malware. Scanning your computer will help find these vulnerabilities and prevent infection of your computer.

Kaspersky application does not detect vulnerabilities in OpenSSL applications.

To run the Application Vulnerability Scan:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Go to the Security section.
3. In the Scan block, click the Choose scan button.

   This opens the Scan window.

4. In the Scan window select the Application Vulnerability Scan section.
5. Click the Run button.

The application starts scanning your computer for vulnerabilities in applications.

Page top

How to exclude a file, folder, or threat type from scanning

To exclude a file, folder, or threat type from scanning:

1. Open the main application window.
2. Click in the lower part of the main window.

   This opens the Settings window.

3. Go to Security settings → Exclusions and actions on object detection.
4. Click the Manage exclusions link to open the Exclusions window.
5. Click the Add button.
6. Add an exclusion in one of the following ways:
   • Click Browse and select the folder or file that you want to exclude from scanning. Click the Select button.
   • In the File or folder field, enter the full name or mask of the file or folder.
   • In the Object name field, enter the full name or mask of the threat type in accordance with the Kaspersky classification of detected object.
   • If you fill in both fields, File or folder and Object name, the specified file or folder is not scanned for the specified threat type.
   • In the File hash field, enter the hash if you want files to be excluded from scanning by their hashes.
7. Clear the check boxes for protection components that the exclusion rule must not apply to. Enter a comment if you like.
8. Select the Active status for the rule and click Add.

Specified objects are excluded from scanning.

For details about the settings, see the Exclusions and actions on object detection window

Page top

Scanning files in OneDrive cloud storage

In Windows 10 RS3 or later, the application does not scan files in OneDrive cloud storage. If the application detects such files during a scan, it shows a notification stating that the files in cloud storage were not scanned.

The following components do not scan files in OneDrive cloud storage:

• Full Scan
• Selective Scan
• Quick Scan
• Background Scan

The report on the operation of the application contains a list of files in OneDrive cloud storage that were skipped during scan.

Files downloaded from OneDrive cloud storage to a local computer are scanned by real-time protection components. If a file scan was postponed and the file has been uploaded back to OneDrive cloud storage before the scan is started, this file may be skipped during a scan.

When running applications and scripts, the Intrusion Prevention and System Watcher components download applications from the OneDrive cloud storage to the local computer to scan.

In order to make sure that OneDrive files are displayed in Explorer, turn on the Files on demand in the OneDrive client application feature. If you are connected to the Internet, you can use them just like any other files on your computer.