Avast Clear: Common Problems and How to Solve Them Without Nerves

Avast Clear is an official utility to completely uninstall Avast antivirus from your computer. Sometimes the usual uninstallation through “Programs and Components” in Windows leaves behind some tail: residual files, services, registry entries. Avast Clear should clean it all up.

But in practice everything does not always go smoothly. The utility has its own issues, which are often not written about on the official pages. Let’s talk about them.

1. Avast Clear does not start

This is probably the most common. You download an .exe, click, and there’s nothing in response. Or a window flashes, and that’s it. No response.

What to do:

• Check if some other antivirus program (e.g. Windows Defender) is blocking the launch.
• Try running as administrator – right click on the file → Run as administrator.
• If still silent, boot your computer in Safe Mode and run the utility from there. Avast itself recommends it.

Why it’s important:
Safe Mode disables everything unnecessary, including Avast services that may interfere with the removal of itself.

2. Cannot uninstall Avast completely

Avast Clear has worked, it seems to have cleared, but the antivirus keeps popping up. Or there is a C:\Program Files/Avast Software folder on the disk that cannot be deleted.

See what might help:

• Make sure that you have selected the correct installation folder in the utility window (by default it may not match the actual path).
• After uninstalling, check the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Avast Software – if there is something there, delete it manually.
• Sometimes it helps to run Avast Clear again after the first cleanup.

Important:
Residue files can conflict with other antivirus, especially if you put something like Kaspersky or Bitdefender.

3. Avast Clear hangs in process

It’s terribly annoying: the deletion line started and stopped. It doesn’t go in or out.

Why it happens:

• It is possible to be blocked by processes left hanging from Avast itself.
• Sometimes this is due to a failure in accessing the desired folder (administrator rights, corrupted files).

Solutions:

• Again, safe mode works wonders.
• Check if AvastSvc.exe or avastui.exe is running in Task Manager. Finish manually before running Clear.
• If it hangs steadily at the same stage, download a fresh version of the utility from the official website.

4. Conflict with other software

Many people complain: after using Avast Clear, the VPN stops working or the browser behaves strangely.

Why it’s happening:

Avast sometimes embeds its network drivers. If Clear removes them incompletely, the system may glitch.

What helps:

Check the network settings in Windows: sometimes after uninstallation, the virtual adapter from Avast is left behind.
Open ncpa.cpl, find anything suspicious related to Avast and remove it.
If there is a network error, restart the TCP/IP stack:

  netsh int ip reset
  netsh winsock reset

(Executed through the command line with administrator privileges.)

5. After uninstalling – problems installing new antivirus

The new protection won’t install. The installation hangs, gives errors, as if Avast is still sitting in a corner somewhere.

What to do:

Make sure all Avast services are uninstalled: services.msc → look for something named Avast – if there is, disable and uninstall it.
Go through the paths:

C:\ProgramData\Avast Software\
%AppData%\Avast Software\
%ProgramFiles%\Avast Software\
If there’s anything left, delete it manually.
Clean the registry, but carefully. It’s better to use a utility like CCleaner so that you don’t remove unnecessary stuff.

A little tip at the end

In case you no longer have the smooth experience after the uninstalling process of Avast, do not hurry to instal everything again. Sometimes just rebooting helps. And yes, it’s better to uninstall antiviruses before installing new ones – not together.

Bottom line: should you use Avast Clear?

Yes, if you want to get rid of Avast completely. It’s better than just uninstalling through Windows. However, this is only when you are ready to work a little, sometimes when technicalities do not work out as expected.

What to remember:

1. Always run in safe mode.
2. Uninstall the leftovers manually if something is still there.
3. Take your time – check if everything is really gone.