Malwarebytes Free Download: On-Demand Malware Scanner

If your browser keeps opening strange pages or a program you never installed has appeared, a second opinion from a dedicated malware scanner can help. The free version of Malwarebytes is often used for exactly that kind of cleanup.

Free vs. Premium

• Free version: Scans your computer when you start a scan and removes the infections it finds.
• Not in the free version: Real-time antivirus, ransomware protection and blocking of phishing and malicious websites.
• Premium: Adds the real-time protections above, plus exploit protection and brute-force attack prevention.

Running your first scan

1. Get the installer from malwarebytes.com, not from a download mirror.
2. Run it. The setup may offer a Premium trial; after it ends, the app drops back to the free scanner.
3. Click Scan, review the results and quarantine what it finds.

Keep your regular antivirus on

Because the free version does not protect you in real time, keep the antivirus built into your operating system (such as Microsoft Defender on Windows) turned on. Download Malwarebytes only from malwarebytes.com or the official app stores.

After a scan finds something

Quarantining a threat is often only half the job. Restart the computer if Malwarebytes asks you to, then run a second scan to confirm nothing came back. If the detection was a password stealer or a remote-access tool, change the passwords for your email, bank and social accounts, ideally from another device you trust, and turn on two-step verification wherever it is offered. Look through your browser for extensions you do not remember adding and remove them, since unwanted search redirects often live there. Finally, think about where the infection came from: cracked software, fake “update your player” pop-ups and unexpected email attachments are common sources, and a clean scan does not help much if the same file is opened again.