Run a manual scan

Written By Marissa Fegan (Super Administrator)

Updated at June 5th, 2020

You can choose to run a manual Quick, Full, or Custom Scan at any time from the VIPRE main window with the Scan Now button.

Why run a manual scan?

Manual scans are ideal if you suspect there may be threats on your Mac, or you have just connected an external drive, or if you’re just running VIPRE for the first time.

While Active Protection keeps your Mac safe from applications attempting to execute malicious code, scans systematically check the file system on your Mac and examine each file to be sure they are not infected. There’s certainly no harm in being extra-cautious. You can run a manual scan to check files on your Mac whenever you like.

In addition to manual scans, you can adjust VIPRE's automated, scheduled scans to customize when it checks for threats.

What's the difference between Quick, Full, and Custom Scans?

  • A Quick Scan checks user files and folders on your Mac as well as running applications.
  • A Full Scan is more robust; it checks all files (including system files) as well as running applications.
  • A Custom Scan lets you tell VIPRE the exact folders or drives on your Mac that you want it to scan; especially useful if you have a folder where you often download files from the Internet or a shared folder where other users can drop files.

When a manual scan completes you can choose how you want to handle any threats that are found on the Scan Report screen.

To run a manual Quick Scan

  1. From the main VIPRE window, click Scan Now
  2. Click Quick

VIPRE performs a Quick Scan, which usually takes just a minute or two. When finished, VIPRE displays the scan results in a manual scan Scan Report, where you can choose how to handle threats that it finds.

To run a manual Full Scan

  1. From the main VIPRE window, click Scan Now
  2. Click Full

VIPRE performs a Full Scan. Because a Full Scan looks at your entire Mac, it can take some time to complete. When finished, VIPRE displays the scan results in a manual scan Scan Report, where you can choose how to handle threats that it finds.

To run a manual Custom Scan

  1. From the main VIPRE window, click Scan Now
  2. Click Custom
  3. Select the files, folders, or drives on your Mac that you want to scan

Note: Time Machine backup drives are not supported at this time.

VIPRE performs a custom scan, checking the locations you specified. Depending on how many items you selected, this can take some time to complete. When finished, VIPRE displays the scan results in a manual scan Scan Report, where you can choose how to handle threats that it finds.