TotalAV Antivirus Pro review: a bit of a mess

Macworld

At a GlanceExpert's Rating

Pros

Good level of configuration and customization

Cons

Errors removing some malware infections

Too focused on upselling

Our Verdict
If you’re looking for a security utility that will supposedly help protect you on multiple fronts there are better options out there.

Price When Reviewed
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Price When Reviewed19,95 €

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Sometimes there’s a reason you haven’t heard of a software company or its products. This is the case with Total Security Limited’s TotalAV Antivirus Pro 2025 software, which functions as an intended jack-of-all-trades security suite centered around virus and malware protection and removal, with almost every other utility that can be conceived of included and available as premium add-ons.

TotalAV, which requires Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later to install and run, is available as a free trial and retails for a $99/£99 license fee for one year (currently discounted to $29 in the U.S. but not in the U.K.), which offers licensing for three Mac, Windows, iOS, or Android devices. The software downloads and installs cleanly, and granted full access to my hard drive for scanning with minimal fuss. An elegant user interface greets the user, and the software itself is centered around the Dashboard, Smart Scan, Password Vault, Malware Scan, VPN, Identity Protection, Total Adblock, Data Breach Check, WebShield, Junk Cleaner, Duplicate Finder, Large & Old Files, Disk Usage, Browser Cleaner, Startup Programs, and Uninstaller modules.

To see how TotalAV compares to other antivirus software we have reviewed see our Best Mac Antivirus apps round-up.

TotalAV offers a good level of configuration and customization, allowing the user to create whitelists as to files to avoid checking, and the generic Smart Scan feature, which runs upon initially launching TotalAV, came up with issues such as 132 tracking cookies, duplicate files, and storage that could be reclaimed.

To its credit, TotalAV allows for the easy targeting and scanning of specific folders and external and removable volumes, and the software was able to identify, quarantine, and remove large swaths of infected sample software, but that’s about where the good times end. Just about everything within TotalAV is a push to get you past the free trial, to “Get Protected Now,” and the fact that the trial version of the software only allows for viral infections to be quarantined as opposed to quarantined and removed says something. Until you pull the trigger and shell out $29 for the first year’s subscription, you’ll be limited in what you can do, and even the act of purchasing the software led to my bank texting me to question whether this was a valid transaction, which has never happened before in my years of purchasing utility software. This, combined with no less than 64 pages of complaints about Total Security on the Better Business Bureau website doesn’t leave potential users feeling great about what they’ve purchased or whom they’ve purchased it from.




TotalAV locating two additional instances of malware that it had a hard time removing.Foundry

Aside from the few things the software does well, the strikes against it just kept coming. In addition to letting reams of sample malware be installed, macOS’ GateKeeper feature offering warnings that needed to be bypassed, setting up TotalAV’s supposed Real-Time Protection feature was vague, and the software takes you to macOS’ Privacy & Security settings, but doesn’t specifically open the extensions menu you need. It’s unclear as to which extension they’re referring to and if you’re installing it correctly, and while TotalAV was able to find and remove 102 examples of malware on its first major test run, it missed the OSX.Backdoor.Adwind and OSX.Loader infections, which had to be removed with another utility.




The results of TotalAV’s malware scan and the application returning an error in quarantining the OSX.Keylogger infection.Foundry

The application found 15 more pieces of malware on a follow-up scan and had errors removing some malware infections, crashing once and continuously posting pop-ups asking you to review it, even after purchasing the software. While the ad blocker feature works well, the WebShield function proved to be all but worthless, and allowed visits to websites from every possible element of my Gmail spam folder with no warnings to speak of. Other features, such as VPN and Identity Protection proved to be ads for additional services that could be purchased, including TotalAV’s cloud service for storage.




TotalAV discovering an additional 15 malware infections on a follow-up security scan.Foundry

Other modules, such as Junk Cleaner, Duplicate Finder, Large & Old Files, Disk Usage, Browser Cleaner, Startup Programs, and Uninstaller, work well enough and chase down cache files, language files, cookie files, duplicates, and the like, but offer nothing beyond what other utility programs of this kind tend to offer. These functions run well, but feel impeded by the rest of the suite, which is an anchor around the neck of what TotalAV could be.

Finally, there’s the presence of Total Security as a company, and the failures therein. Head over to the TotalAV website, and there’s next to no means of contacting the company outside of submitting help tickets. I never heard back from media relations regarding questions I had, and the general feeling here is for you to purchase as high a level of services from them/give them your account information and go away. The website, as ridden with typos and grammatical errors as it is, offers little that makes one feel confident about dealing with Total Security in and of itself.

Should you buy TotalAV Antivirus Pro?

What’s present here is an outright mess of a utility that’s trying to do everything at once and does little of it well. Yes, the user interface is elegant and the performance is speedy, but this comes at the cost of functionality, reliability, and the fact that TotalAV just seems to be trying to upsell you as to the next feature. Any sane software company would have offered a fully-featured trial version of its software as well as sorted out the bugs prior to release, and I feel as if this barely came up as an option for Total Security.

This is the software equivalent of visiting your friend’s home and talking with their small children, who are telling you about their toy collection and proceeding to take 459 toys out of a toy chest and show each of them to you with half a sentence of explanation as to each toy before moving on to the next one, something that doesn’t pass muster if you’re looking for a security utility that will supposedly help protect you on multiple fronts. There are better options out there, and you’d be better off seeking them out than in giving Total Security any of your time, attention, and money until they dramatically overhaul TotalAV and make it focused, reliable, and better suited to the user’s needs.