How to Fix Avast not opening on Windows?

Avast is quite a common antivirus choice and it really provides solid protection for a free antivirus (with a paid version being available). However, there are many different problems that have surrounded Avast since day one. One of the most common issues is Avast not opening on Windows at all, without any error message.

There have been several different methods people used in order to get rid of this problem and we will try to present the ones which have been the most helpful in this article. Follow the instructions carefully and good luck in resolving the problem!

What Causes the Avast Won’t Open Problem on Windows?

Avast might fail to open due to many different problems. However, it’s possible to come up with a shortlist which can provide the most common ones which affect the majority of users. Determining the correct cause is great for finding the best solutions and resolving the problem as soon as possible.

Solution 1: Repair Avast

If something is wrong with the Avast installation since it won’t open at all, it’s the best to simply repair it by navigating to the Control Panel and using the repair wizard. This solution worked for plenty of people but consider the fact that you may need to readjust certain settings you may have changed in the antivirus.

1. First of all, make sure you are logged in with an administrator account as you won’t be able to delete programs using any other account.
2. Click on the Start menu and open Control Panel by searching for it. Alternatively, you can click on the gear icon in order to open Settings if you are using Windows 10.

3. In Control Panel, select to View as: Category at the top right corner and click on Uninstall a Program under the Programs section.
4. If you are using the Settings app, clicking on Apps should immediately open a list of all installed programs on your PC.
5. Locate Avast in Control Panel or Settings and click on Uninstall/Repair.
6. Its uninstall wizard should open with several options such as Update, Repair, Modify, and Uninstall. Select Repair and click Next in order to fix the installation of the program.

7. A message will pop up asking you to confirm the process. Avast will most likely be restarted with the default settings which worked before the error started to occur.
8. Click Finish when the uninstalled completes the process and restart your computer to see whether Avast now opens properly.

Solution 2: Restart the Avast Antivirus Service

It’s quite possible that an error regarding the Avast Antivirus service is preventing Avast from opening properly. Services can be restarted rather easily and this method is definitely an easy one to perform by anyone! Make sure you follow the instructions below carefully in order to restart the Avast Antivirus service!

1. Open the Run utility by using the Windows Key + R key combination on your keyboard (press these keys at the same time. Type “services.msc” in the newly opened box without the quotation marks and click OK in order to open the Services tool.

2. The alternative way is to open the Control Panel by locating it in the Start menu. You can also search for it using the Start menu’s search button.
3. After the Control Panel window opens, change the “View by” option at the top right part of the window to “Large Icons” and scroll down until you locate the Administrative Tools Click on it and locate the Services shortcut at the bottom. Click on it to open it as well.

4. Locate the Avast Antivirus service on the list, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu which appears.
5. If the service is started (you can check that just next to the Service status message), you should stop it for now by clicking the Stop button in the middle of the window. If it is stopped, leave it stopped until we proceed.

6. Make sure that the option under the Startup type menu in the service’s properties window is set to Automatic before you proceed with other steps. Confirm any dialogue boxes which may appear when changing the startup type. Click on the Start button in the middle of the window before exiting. You may receive the following error message when you click on Start:

Windows could not start the Avast Antivirus service on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process.

If this happens, follow the instructions below to fix it.

1. Follow steps 1-3 from the instructions above in order to open the service’s properties window. Navigate to the Log On tab and click on the Browse…

2. Under the “Enter the object name to select” entry box, type in your account’s name, click on Check Names and wait for the name to become available.
3. Click OK when you are finished and type in the password in the Password box when you are prompted with it if you have set up a password. Your printer should now work properly!

Solution 3: Perform a Clean Install

There is almost nothing about Avast that a clean install won’t fix and that can be said about this particular problem as well. The clean reinstall is pretty simple to execute and it manages to solve this problem if all of the methods above do not work. It does more than just the regular uninstall as it also deletes the cache files and removes the related registry entries which may have gone corrupt.

1. Download the latest version of the Avast installation by navigating to this link and clicking the Download Free Antivirus button in the middle of the website.
2. Also, you will need to download the Avast Uninstall Utility from this link so save it to your computer as well.

3. Disconnect from the Internet after you have downloaded these files and boot into Safe Mode. Use the Windows + R key combination on your keyboard in order to start the Run dialog box and type in “msconfig” before clicking OK.
4. In the System Configuration window, navigate to the Boot tab to the right and check the box next to the Safe Boot Click OK and restart your computer in order to boot into Safe Mode.

5. Run the Avast Uninstall Utility and browse for the folder where you have installed Avast. If you installed it in the default folder (Program Files), you can leave it. Be careful to choose the correct folder since the contents of any folder you choose will be deleted or corrupted. Navigate through File Explorer until you find the right folder.
6. Click the Remove option and restart your computer by booting into the normal startup. Check to see if Avast now opens normally.