How to Remove/Disable Avast from Adding Signature into Your Outgoing Emails

Antivirus software is essential today. There are millions of reports of malware and phishing emails affecting devices all over the world. Today, there is a vast choice for users when it comes to selecting antivirus software for their computers.

Avast is one of the most popular antivirus software developers.

What is Avast?

Avast Software is a Czech-based cyber-security firm and is renowned for developing advanced AI solutions, machine learning development and immense research into improving computer cyber security. The company reported over 435 million active users (monthly) as of January 2018, making it the largest malware protection developer in the international market.

Some of the best features that highlight the effectiveness of Avast antivirus is:

• Web Shield – Avast activates the Web Shield every time you click on a link. If the website you are visiting is found to have suspicious certification then the antivirus blocks your computer from accessing it and protects you against potential malware attacks.
• File Shield –Avast activates the File Shield to protect against malware in attachments. Your downloaded (attachments) are scanned by the File Shield and if there is suspicion of malware in the attachment, the File Shield quarantines the file in the “Virus Chest”.
• Mail Shield –Avast Mail Shield comes extremely handy to protect your computers against malware, especially if you are using a third-party email management app (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc) to use your email. The Mail Shield is excellent for identifying and blocking harmful files and annoying spam.

Avast antivirus software automatically adds a signature in the footer of every email which is sent from you, as a proof of being safe and certified. This signature is added for users with Avast 2015 and later versions.

However, there are times, when you might need to stop or turn off this function of adding a signature automatically to your outgoing emails.

Why Stop/Turn Off Avast From Adding Signature into Your Outgoing Emails

There are several reasons that would make you wish to turn off Avast from adding signature into your outgoing emails, such as:

• Not wishing to have your official emails have a footer advertising another company (Avast) in business communications.
• Not wishing to have any extra line added to your personal emails.
• Wishing to keep your emails clear and clutter-free

These and similar other reasons prompt numerous users to find ways to stop or turn off Avast from adding signatures automatically to your outgoing emails.

How to Remove/Disable Avast from Adding Signature into Your Outgoing Emails

There are several ways which you can use to remove or disable Avast from adding signature into your outgoing emails.

Removing/Disabling Signature by Avast 2015

Before removing the automatic signature in Avast, you will need to activate the Mail Shield component. These are the simple steps to activate the Mail Shield component before disabling or removing the automatic signature in the footer of your outgoing emails.

STEPS

1. Click on Start menu and choose “Programs” option
2. Select “Programs and Features”
3. Click on “Change” once it appears on the side, this will open the Avast Setup interface
4. Next, click on “Modify”
5. Then check the Mail Shield component in Avast (if unchecked)
6. Once you click on “Change” again, the system activates your Mail Shield component

Once you enable or activate the Mail Shield feature in your Avast 2015 version, you can easily make the modifications to remove or disable the signature from the footer of your emails.

These simple steps help to remove or disable Avast 2015 from adding a signature to your outgoing emails:

STEPS

1. Click on Start menu and select “notepad” and wait for the notepad app to open
2. Next, press right-click over it and choose to “Run as administrator”
3. Then go to the “File” option on top and press open (alternately you can press CTRL + O)
4. Type this into the search bar of the dialogue box

(For Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 users)

‘ C:\Documents and Settings\AVAST Software\Avast\EmailShield.ini ‘

(for Windows XP users)

‘ C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\AVAST Software\Avast\EmailShield.ini ‘

5. Next, a file will open where you will need to bring the below values to ‘0’ (zero):

InsertNoteCleanMsgOut = 0

InsertNoteCleanMsgIn = 0

InsertNoteInfectMsgIn = 0

6. Next, save the file by clicking on “File” then selecting “Save” (alternately you can press CTRL + S too)
7. Click on “Yes” to confirm your modifications and this will remove and disable the Avast signature added to your outgoing emails till now.

Removing/Disabling Signature by Avast 2016 and Avast 2017

These are the simple steps you can follow to remove or disable the automatic signature adding if you use Avast 2016 or Avast 2017:

STEPS

1. Double-click on the Avast icon in your Windows System Tray to open the user interface
2. Under the “Mail Shield” heading, click on “Settings” then click on “Active Protection” option before choosing “Customize” option
3. As the Mail Shield settings pop up, click on “Behavior” tab
4. Search for “Insert note into clean message” option
5. Click to ‘un-check’ the option
6. Click on “OK” to confirm before rebooting your computer for the changes to take effect

Remove/Disable Signature by Avast 2018

If you are a user of the latest version, Avast 2018, then this is the easy way to remove or disable adding a signature by the antivirus to your outgoing emails:

1. Double-click on Avast icon in the Windows System Tray to open the user interface
2. Click on the “Settings” tab on the upper right corner of the app interface
3. Select the “General” section and look for the “Enable Avast Email Signature” option
4. Click to ‘un-check’ enabled signature adding to your emails
5. Click on ‘OK’ to confirm your decision
6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect

(Your Password Manager needs to be updated recently for the changes to take effect completely)

So these are the simple steps that you can use to remove or disable Avast from adding a signature from your outgoing emails and ensure to send clear and clean official communications from now on.