Avast Cleanup Deleted My Files, How to Recover?

Avast Cleanup is a PC optimization tool made by Avast Software, based in the Czech Republic. Compatible with Windows, Mac, and Android operating systems.

Avast Cleanup provides to scan your PC to identify unnecessary items and performance issues, free up disk space, and improve system performance.

Although the Avast antivirus software works well in protecting computers, it also has drawbacks.

It may mistakenly mark some of your important files or important programs as harmful and delete them.

That's why you hear users say Avast deleted my files. If you are experiencing this issue, read on to learnhow to recover Avast deleted files.

Avast Cleanup deleted my files without asking

How to restore files deleted by Avast Cleanup? Before saying this, you need to know how Avast Cleanup handles files that are determined to be harmful.

When Avast antivirus detects harmful files, they will be removed to Virus Chest, where they cannot cause damage to your computer system and other files anymore.

Like recovering files from Recycle Bin, files in the Avast Virus Chest can be recovered and deleted permanently.

So it's necessary to check if your files are in the Virus Chest. If not, you still can try data recovery software or Windows backup. They are said to be the most effective method to recover deleted files. 

How to restore files deleted by Avast Cleanup

After knowing how to recover files deleted by Avast Antivirus, you can follow the methods below to do it easily. It's necessary to check the Virus Chest first. If it's not there, try data recovery software like AOMEI FastRecovery.

Way 1. Recover deleted files from Virus Chest

How to find Avast Virus Chest and how to recover files deleted by Avast antivirus from Virus Chest? You can refer to the guidelines below:

Step 1. Right-click on the Avast icon in the system tray and select Virus Chest from the menu. Or, on the Avast user interface, select Protection on the left menu, then click Antivirus > Virus Chest button.

Step 2. Click on the three dots button of the file that you want to recover, and tap on Restore.

Way 2. Recover files deleted by Avast Antivirus (not in Virus Chest)

If your deleted files are not maintained in Virus Chest, how to restore Avast deleted files? Sometimes, Avast permanently deletes harmful files to prevent restoration. If you need to retrieve files that are not stored in Virus Chest, AOMEI FastRecovery can help you.

AOMEI FastRecovery is reputable data recovery software that is able to recover permanently deleted data. With decades of experience in the field of data recovery, this tool can help a lot. You can take a look at its highlighted features:

You can learn how to restore files deleted by Avast Cleanup in the following detailed tutorial.

Step 1. Install the AOMEI FastRecovery wizard on your computer. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. Your deleted and missing files and folders will be displayed here. You can search for a file/folder name or sort by file type, date modified, or size to locate the one you want quickly.

• Type: It will contain all the file types in the local drive, such as, images, videos, documents, mails, webpage, compressed files, etc.
• Data Modified: It supports today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, and custom. 
• Size: It allows you to filter file size from less than 128KB to 128KB ~1MB to 1MB ~ 512MB and above, or custom.

Step 3. Expand Deleted Files folder and Other Missing Files folder to choose the desired items. Tap on Recover x files, and then pick a path to store the recovered files.

Way 3: Avast Cleanup deleted my files - Recover from Windows backup

In addition to data recovery software, you still can try Windows backup, such as Backup and Restore, File History, etc. The premise is you have a backup copy created previously.

Here take Backup and Restore as an example. If you are using File History to backup files, check this guide: restore files from backup in Windows 10.

Step 1. Press the Windows key on the keyboard and type Control Panel, then press Enter.

Step 2. Select Update and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 3. Click on Restore my files and follow the wizard to recover permanently deleted data.

How to restore files deleted by other antivirus software 

Except for Avast Cleanup, you may also encounter similar issues caused by other antivirus software, such as Avast One, Kaspersky, AVG, etc. and they usually have a place called quarantine, which is used to save harmful or suspicious files and files. 

Restore files deleted by Avast One

Step 1. Run Avast One, and click on Explore > Quarantine > Open Quarantine one by one.

Step 2. select the target files and click Restore to bring it back to its original location, or you could hit Restore as to move it to a specified location.

Restore deleted files from Kaspersky 

Step 1. Open Kaspersky. Once it’s up and running, click More Tools at the bottom.

Step 2. Click Quarantine at the left panel.

Step 3. You will then see all the backup copies of deleted files. Select them and click the Restore button. Or right-click it and select Restore from the drop-down menu.

Recover files deleted by AVG antivirus 

Step 1. Open the main AVG window and head to the Menu option. 

Step 2. Choose the Quarantine option and select the deleted files for AVG data recovery.

Conclusion

In this guide, three solutions for how to restore files deleted by Avast Cleanup are provided. If your important files are permanently erased by Avast Cleanup without saving them in Avast Chest, you could turn to the powerful recovery tool - AOMEI FastRecovery to retrieve your permanently deleted files and folders with ease.

FAQs on Avast deleted files

Can I restore files deleted by Avast Antivirus?

Yes, Avast Antivirus may sometimes identify legitimate files as threats and quarantine or delete them. Fortunately, Avast provides options to restore files from its quarantine or virus chest, where it temporarily stores suspicious files.

How do I restore files from Avast's quarantine or virus chest?

Open the Avast Antivirus program, navigate to the Quarantine section, and locate the file you want to restore. Select the file, then choose the option to restore it to its original location or specify a new location for restoration.

What if I can't find the deleted files in Avast's quarantine or virus chest?

If you can't find the deleted files in Avast's quarantine or virus chest, they might have been permanently deleted. In such cases, you can try using data recovery software to attempt to retrieve the deleted files from your hard drive.

How can I prevent Avast from deleting files I need?

To prevent Avast from deleting files you need, you can add those files or folders to the exclusion list or whitelist in the Avast settings. This tells Avast to ignore those files or folders during scans and prevents them from being flagged as threats.

Are there any precautions I should take when restoring files deleted by Avast?

Before restoring files deleted by Avast, ensure that they are indeed safe and not malicious. Scan the files using reliable antivirus software to verify their integrity. Additionally, regularly update your antivirus definitions to minimize the chances of false positives and ensure optimal protection.