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AVG TuneUp - Getting Started

 

AVG TuneUp is an optimization tool that scans your PC to identify unnecessary items and performance issues, freeing up disk space and improving the speed of your system.

This article assumes that the latest version of AVG TuneUp is installed and activated on your PC. For detailed installation and activation instructions, refer to the following articles: Installing AVG TuneUp & Activating an AVG TuneUp subscription.

If you are using AVG TuneUp for the first time, the application opens automatically after installation and you can click Scan now to perform a Maintenance scan, or click Skip to continue to the AVG TuneUp dashboard.

Perform a Maintenance scan

A Maintenance scan is a comprehensive check of your system that detects broken or redundant items and tracking data.

To run a Maintenance scan:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and click Details in the Maintain tile.
  2. Tick the boxes next to the issue types you want to clean. The issue types that AVG ticks automatically are safe to clean without losing crucial data.
  3. Optionally, click a panel to view specific items on your PC, and further specify exactly which items are cleaned.
  4. Click Fix & clean to resolve the selected issues.
  5. AVG TuneUp cannot clear browser cache from a web browser unless the browser is closed. If prompted, save any work that is open in your browsers, then click Continue to allow AVG TuneUp to close your open browsers.

    Alternatively, select Skip browser cleaning.
  6. If you are using AVG TuneUp for the first time, you may be prompted to enable Automatic Maintenance. Click Turn on if you want AVG TuneUp to perform Maintenance scans regularly without you manually triggering them.

    Alternatively, select Not now.
  7. When cleaning is complete, click Done.

All selected issues are now resolved.

Enable Automatic Maintenance

Automatic Maintenance runs silently in the background with no actions required from you and frees up space on your PC by removing dispensable items, such as broken shortcuts and registry items.

To enable Automatic Maintenance:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and go to Menu ▸ Settings.
  2. Select Automatic Maintenance in the left panel.
  3. Click the red (OFF) slider so that it changes to green (ON).
  4. Optionally, use the drop-down menu under How often should we clean automatically? to specify the frequency of Automatic Maintenance.
  5. Optionally, select the file types that AVG TuneUp has permission to remove during Automatic Maintenance. The file types that AVG ticks automatically are safe to clean without losing crucial data.

Automatic Maintenance is now enabled.

Manage background applications

Certain applications slow down your system by running silently in the background. AVG TuneUp scans for these applications, then allows you to safely put them to sleep and boost performance.

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and click Details in the Speed up tile.
  2. Click Details in the Background & startup programs panel.
  3. The Background & startup programs screen shows applications that are running unnecessarily in the background and slowing down your PC. Select one of the following options:
    • Sleep: Puts the individual application to sleep and removes it from the list.
    • Ignore: Allows the application to continue running in the background and removes it from the list.
    • Put all to sleep: Puts all listed applications to sleep.
If you use an application on a daily basis, we do not recommend putting it to sleep. Additionally, certain applications need to run in the background to offer full functionality. For example, if you put Skype to sleep, you may miss incoming calls.

The selected applications are now sleeping or ignored. You can open and use sleeping applications as normal. After you close the application, AVG TuneUp automatically returns its status to sleeping.

To manage a sleeping or an ignored application:

  1. Click programs sleeping or programs ignored at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Select one of the options below:
    • Wake: Immediately wakes the application and allows it to start running in the background.
    • Stop ignoring: Returns the application to your list of Background & startup programs, where you can optionally put it to sleep.
On devices with Windows 10 and higher, the Background & startup programs feature supports applications installed through the Microsoft Store. The relevant applications are installed in a Sleep state by default. You can wake the applications in the Background & startup programs screen.

Remove unnecessary applications

AVG TuneUp scans your PC for unnecessary applications, then allows you to easily remove and uninstall them, freeing up resources for the applications you do use.

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and click Details in the Speed up tile.
  2. Click Details in the Unnecessary programs panel.
  3. The Unnecessary programs screen shows poorly rated applications and infrequently used applications that can be safely removed. The following options are available:
    • Rating: See the community and expert rating and add your own rating.
    • Ignore: Removes the application from the list.
    • Move to trash: Puts the application in the trash. It will be automatically uninstalled based on your Auto Uninstall settings.
    • Uninstall: Uninstalls the application from your PC. This action cannot be undone.
The Last used column shows the last time the application was used since AVG TuneUp was installed.

Manage trashed or ignored applications

  1. Click programs in trash or programs ignored at the bottom of the screen.
  2. Select one of the options below:
    • Remove from trash: Returns the application to the list above.
    • Uninstall: Uninstalls the application from your PC.
    • Stop ignoring: Returns the application to the list above.

Free up space

AVG TuneUp scans for and safely deletes system junk and web browser data to free up disk space.

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and click Details in the Free up space tile.
  2. Select the category that you want to clean:
    • System junk: Click Details in the System junk panel to clean unnecessary junk files on your PC.
    • Browser data: Click Details in the Browser data panel to clean temporary web browser files.
  3. Choose a filter to select items you want to clean. The following options are available:
    • Recommended: Selects only file categories that you can safely clean without losing crucial data.
    • All: Selects all listed file categories. You can then manually de-select any file categories you don't want to clean.
    • Custom: Manually select the file categories you want to clean.
  4. If you are cleaning Browser data, optionally click on Manage allowed sites to create exceptions for certain websites.
  5. Click Clean now.
  6. When cleaning is complete, click Done.

The selected file categories are now cleaned.

Manage Browser data cleaning

AVG TuneUp allows you to choose how long you keep your browser data before it is cleaned. You can also create exceptions for websites that you want to stay logged into.

To manage browser data cleaning, follow the steps below:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and go to Menu ▸ Settings.
  2. Ensure the General tab is selected, then click Browser data.

The following options are available:

Browser data cleaning

Click the drop-down menu under Cookies or Browsing history to specify how long AVG TuneUp keeps them in your web browsers.

After the selected period, AVG TuneUp will offer to remove these items during a Free up space scan.

Add Allowed websites

Add websites to your Allowed websites list to stop AVG TuneUp from clearing cookies on them. This ensures information such as login details remain saved.

This feature is available only in AVG Secure Browser, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

Choose one of the following options:

  • Enter the website URL (for example, example.com) in the upper text box, and click Add.
  • Select a website from the list of popular websites in the lower text box, and click Add.

The selected website is now excluded from cookie clearing.

To remove a website from the list, click the Trash icon in the relevant website's panel.

Check your PC for problems

Open AVG TuneUp and click Details in the Fix problems tile to check for a variety of problems that may impact the performance and security of your PC.

For more information about the issues that AVG TuneUp may detect during a Fix problems scan, refer to the following article:

Undo actions

The History screen allows you to undo certain changes made by AVG TuneUp:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp and click the History icon.
  2. Click Undo next to the action you want to reverse.

The selected action is now reversed.

Not all actions performed by AVG TuneUp can be reversed.

Further recommendations

View all application functions by clicking All functions (the grid icon) on the right side of the main AVG TuneUp dashboard.

To learn more about TuneUp, refer to the following article:

AVG TuneUp Premium is an optimization tool for Mac that includes a range of scans to detect unnecessary items and performance issues, freeing up disk space and improving the speed of your system.

This article assumes that AVG TuneUp Premium is installed and activated on your Mac. For detailed instructions, refer to the following articles: Installing AVG TuneUp & Activating an AVG TuneUp subscription.

Run Quick clean

Quick Clean scans your Mac for unnecessary files and allows you to select which files are deleted to clear disk space. Quick Clean also allows you to easily remove cookies and other browsing data from your web browsers.

To run a scan:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium and click Scan in the Quick Clean panel.
  2. Tick the boxes next to the types of files you want to clean. Optionally, click the v arrow to expand a section and select the specific files you want to clean.
  3. Click Clean ▸ Done.

Clear disk space

The Clean clutter option scans your Mac for unnecessary files and allows you to select which files are deleted to clear disk space. To run a scan and remove files:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium, then hover your mouse over the side menu and select Clean clutter.
  2. Click Scan clutter.
  3. Use the drop-down menu in the bottom-left corner to select file categories for removal. The following options are available:
    • Recommended selection: Selects only file categories that you can safely clean without losing crucial data.
    • Select all: Selects all listed file categories. You can then manually de-select any file categories you don't want to clean.
    • Select none: De-selects all listed file categories. You can then manually select the file categories you want to clean.
  4. After selecting the files you want to remove, click Clean.
  5. If prompted, enter the password that you use when you start your Mac, and click OK.
  6. Click Done to return to the main AVG TuneUp Premium screen.

Clean your browsers

The Clean browser option allows you to easily remove cookies and other browsing data from your web browsers. The following options are available:

Run a manual scan

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium, then hover your mouse over the side menu and select Clean browser.
  2. Click Scan browsers.
  3. Use the drop-down menu in the bottom-left corner to select the items you want to remove. The following options are available:
    • Recommended selection: Selects only the items that you can safely clean without losing potentially useful data. You can check the items that are selected for cleaning by clicking Details next to a browser.
    • Select all: Selects all listed items. You can then click Details next to a browser to manually de-select any items you don't want to clean.
    • Select none: De-selects all listed items. You can then click Details next to a browser to manually select the items you want to clean.
  4. Click Clean to remove the selected data.
  5. Click Done to return to the main AVG TuneUp Premium screen.

Choose Browser History

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium, then hover your mouse over the side menu and select Clean browser.
  2. Click Scan browsers.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Tick the box beside Only delete Browser History older than: and choose the frequency according to your preferences.

Schedule automatic scans

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium, then hover your mouse over the side menu and select Clean browser.
  2. Click Scan browsers.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Use the drop-down menu next to a browser to specify how regularly you want AVG TuneUp Premium to scan the browser for cookies and browsing data.
  5. Click the panel for a browser to review and adjust the items that AVG TuneUp Premium has permission to remove during each scan. Tick the boxes next to the item types that you are happy for us to remove.

Automatic scanning is enabled for the selected browser.

Add allowed websites

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium, then hover your mouse over the side menu and select Clean browser.
  2. Click Scan browsers.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Scroll to the Cookie Allowlist section and select Add manually.
  5. Add a website using either Option A or Option B below:
    • Option A: Enter a website (for example, example.com) into the left text box, then click Add.
    • Option B: Select a website from the Choose from popular options drop-down menu, then click Add.

The selected website is now excluded from cookie clearing.

To remove a website from the list, click Remove (the X icon) in the relevant websites' panel.

Remove duplicate files

The Find duplicates option scans your Mac for duplicate files. To run a scan and remove duplicate files:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium and click Find next to Find duplicates.
  2. Tick the location(s) you want to scan for duplicate files. To add additional folders or external drives, click Add, then select a folder or drive.
  3. Click Scan.
  4. After the scan completes, click View duplicates.
  5. Use the drop-down menu in the bottom-left corner to select the files you want to remove. The following options are available:
    • Keep oldest: Automatically selects the newest version of each file for removal.
    • Keep newest: Automatically selects the oldest version of each file for removal.
    • Select none: De-selects all files and allows you to manually select files for removal. Tick each file that you want to remove. After you tick a file, Select none becomes Custom selection.
  6. After selecting the files you want to remove, click Clean.
  7. If prompted, enter the password that you use when you start your Mac, then click OK.
  8. Click Done to return to the main AVG TuneUp Premium screen.

Identify bad or similar photos

The Find photos option scans your Mac for photos that are blurry, badly-lit, or similar. To run a scan and review bad or similar photos:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium and click Find next to Analyze photos.
  2. Tick the location(s) you want to scan for photos. To add additional folders, external drives, or specific photos, click Add, then select the folder, drive, or photo.
  3. Click Scan.
  4. After the scan completes, click Review under either Bad photos or Similar photos to see the photos that AVG TuneUp Premium has identified.
  5. Click Got it to remove the pop-up message.
  6. Use the drop-down menu in the bottom-left corner to select the files you want to remove. The following options are available:
    • Select all: Selects all photos. You can then manually de-select any photos you don't want for removal.
    • Recommended: Selects the photos that AVG TuneUp Premium recommends for removal.
    • Select none: De-selects all photos and allows you to manually select photos for removal. Tick each photo that you want to remove. After you tick a photo, Select none becomes Custom selection.
  7. After selecting the photos you want to delete, click Remove.
  8. Click Remove to confirm deletion of your selected photos.
  9. Click Review and repeat steps 5-8 above to continue reviewing and deleting photos.
  10. Click Done to return to the main AVG TuneUp Premium screen.

Uninstall apps you no longer use

The Uninstall apps option allows you to easily find and remove applications you no longer use, to keep your Mac tidy and free up space. To uninstall apps you no longer use:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium and click Show next to Uninstall apps.
  2. Tick the box next to an app to select it. You can also filter the list of apps using the Unused apps and Large apps categories in the left panel.
  3. After selecting the apps you want to remove, click Uninstall.
  4. Click Uninstall to confirm removal of the selected apps from your Mac.
  5. If prompted, enter the password that you use when you start your Mac, then click OK.
  6. Click Done to return to the main AVG TuneUp Premium screen.

Manage startup items

The Manage startup items option allows you to turn off unnecessary processes that launch automatically when you start up your Mac, preventing issues like slowness or long loading screens. To manage your startup items:

  1. Open AVG TuneUp Premium and click Show next to Manage startup items.
  2. Click the green (On) slider next to a startup item, so that it changes to gray (Off).
  3. To view additional details and options, hover your cursor over a startup item and click the Information icon that appears.

Further recommendations

To learn more about AVG TuneUp, refer to the following article:

  • AVG TuneUp 23.x for Windows
  • AVG TuneUp Premium 2.x for Mac
  • Microsoft Windows 11 Home / Pro / Enterprise / Education
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home / Pro / Enterprise / Education - 32 / 64-bit
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 / Pro / Enterprise - 32 / 64-bit
  • Microsoft Windows 8 / Pro / Enterprise - 32 / 64-bit
  • Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic / Home Premium / Professional / Enterprise / Ultimate - Service Pack 1, 32 / 64-bit
     
  • Apple macOS 14.x (Sonoma)
  • Apple macOS 13.x (Ventura)
  • Apple macOS 12.x (Monterey)
  • Apple macOS 11.x (Big Sur)
  • Apple macOS 10.15.x (Catalina)
  • Apple macOS 10.14.x (Mojave)
  • Apple macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra)
  • Apple macOS 10.12.x (Sierra)
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