Exclude files and folders from Norton scans

You can configure your Norton product to exclude certain programs from the Auto-Protect and Behavioral Protection scans. When you add a file or folder to the exclusions list, your Norton product ignores the file or folder when it scans for security risks.

Excluding a file from the Norton scans reduces the protection level of your computer and should be used only if you have a specific need. You should only exclude items if you are confident that they are not infected.

Exclude high-risk security threats from scanning

Open your Norton device security product.

If you see the My Norton window, next to Device Security, click Open.
In the Norton product main window, click Settings.
In the Settings window, click Antivirus.
In the Antivirus settings window, click the Scans and Risks tab.
Under Exclusions / Low Risks, click Configure next to the following rows:
- Items to Exclude from Scans.
- Items to Exclude from Auto-Protect, Script Control, Behavioral Protection and Download Intelligence Detection.
In the window that appears, click Add Folders or Add Files.

You can assign exclusions to local drives, folders, groups of files, single files, or network drives. However, your Norton product does not support exclusions for files on a network. If you add a network drive to the exclusion list, make sure that the drive is connected to your computer.
In the Add Item dialog box, click the browse icon.
In the dialog box that appears, select the item that you want to exclude from the scan.

When you add folders, you can specify whether to include or exclude subfolders.
Click OK.
In the Add Item dialog box, click OK.
In the window that appears, click Apply, and then click OK.

Exclude a downloaded file

To exclude a file from Download Intelligence, you must select a folder that has been excluded as mentioned above and download the file to the selected folder.

For example, when you download an unsafe executable file to this folder, your Norton product lets you download the file and does not remove it from your computer.