How to use the Surfshark Antivirus on Windows

Updated: March 05, 2025 06:05

In this article, you will learn how to use the Surfshark Antivirus on your Windows device.

Before we begin, make sure you have Surfshark VPN for Windows and an active Surfshark One subscription, which includes the Antivirus. You can purchase it on our pricing page. You will also need Windows 10 or newer and 2GB of free disk space.

Here are the steps on how to use the Surfshark Antivirus on Windows:

Open the Surfshark application and select the Antivirus tab.
Press on Install Antivirus.
Once the installation is complete, you can start your first scan. To do so, press Continue.
Once the initial scan is complete, you will see the number of files scanned and the overall duration of the scan. You will also know whether any threats have been found on your device.
After the initial scan, you'll find yourself in the main dashboard of the Antivirus features.

Here, you will find the following:

Full scan – scans the whole system and all files on all your drives.
Quick scan – scans the most vulnerable places of the user's device (such as temp folder, downloads, etc.)
Scheduled scans – schedule an automatic Full or Quick scan for certain days at a specific time.
Virus database and Cloud protect – this always-on feature allows Surfshark Antivirus to analyze suspicious files using the Surfshark cloud, which has access to a global antivirus database and does not slow your device down.
Webcam protection – if your Windows device has a webcam, the feature will prevent unauthorized access to it.
Exclusion list – choose what files or folders you want to scan. If you have a file or folder that you don't want to be scanned, add it to the exclude list.
External storage scans – this feature allows Surfshark Antivirus to scan any external devices (such as USBs) that you plug into your Windows device.
Quarantine auto-delete – with this option enabled, quarantined files (in other words, harmful files) will be automatically deleted in 60 days.

NOTE: If any threats have been found on your device, we highly recommend removing the files containing threats immediately to secure your device. You can do that directly through the Surfshark app.