The Settings screen allows the user to change all operational settings of Malwarebytes. Using tabs, we have grouped settings by the areas/functions which they control, in order to maintain a clean user interface. When you select any tab, you will see the Detail Pane change to reflect the tab which you selected. At the same time, the tab itself is highlighted.
Before we dig in to each of the tabs, a brief description of each is in order.
When Settings is selected, the Application tab is always selected. If you navigate away from Settings — to Dashboard, Scan, Quarantine or Reports — you will always return to the Application tab of Settings when you click on Settings. Now, let's take a look at Application Settings!
This is the entry screen you will see when you click on Settings in the Menu Pane. It controls how Malwarebytes interacts with many aspects of your computer's operating system. A screenshot is shown below.
The scroll bar at the right of this screen indicates there are many more options available on this screen than what appear here. We will now cover each of them in order.
Malwarebytes may have updates available for individual program components, or for the full program. We provide two toggle switches which allow you to choose whether either or both upgrade modes can be integrated into your copy of Malwarebytes when they are available. Click Install Application Updates to check for available program updates or upgrades. You can choose if you upgrade, and when. Upgrades only happen with your consent.
Notifications regarding scans, real time protection, updates and subscriptions occur in windows at the lower right corner of your screen, outside of the Malwarebytes interface. You may enable or disable these notifications. Most notifications are enabled by default, and cannot be disabled. Please note that some non-critical information may not be visible if you disable notifications. A few notifications may be disabled. Disabled notifications do not leave the user at risk at any time. The following notifications may be disabled. Please refer to Notification Window Examples at the end of this guide for further information.
Some users intentionally turn off one or more components of real-time protection. Users may now disable notifications that components have been turned off. Please note that as a result of this setting, users will be unable to receive notifications regarding real-time protection failures in the event of program malfunction.
Most users schedule scans to occur during times when their computer is typically idle. Execution of a manual scan may be performed as a matter of convenience, or while other tasks are being executed. The performance of lower-powered computers may be affected by execution of the Malwarebytes scan. This setting allows the user to determine the priority of the scan to be performed. Lower scan priority will require more time to execute while impacting other operations to a lesser degree. High priority allows the scan to be executed at the maximum speed which the computer allows, but may affect other tasks.
Malwarebytes has the capability to launch a Threat Scan upon one or more individual files or directories from within Windows Explorer by using the context menu that becomes available when the files/directories are right-clicked. This setting allows that capability to be turned on or off. The default setting is On.
This setting determines the language used throughout. This is pre-set, based on the language used during program installation. It can be modified at will.
This setting provides additional information regarding program actions which are beyond typical needs of the user. Should you encounter a technical issue with Malwarebytes, our Customer Success engineers may request that you enable this setting to provide additional troubleshooting information. Once troubleshooting is complete, please remember to turn this setting off to prevent unnecessary disk usage. The default setting is Off.
This determines whether Internet connections will use a proxy server. This is more often used on a corporate network. It has two primary purposes. The first is to funnel communications to and from the outside world through a single connection point, thus assuring anonymity of all computers on the internal network. The second purpose is to cache content. This means that external content which had recently been downloaded is saved locally for some period of time, and subsequent requests by that user (or others) could use the recently-saved data. This conserves significant bandwidth, resulting in lower operating costs.
By default, Malwarebytes does not use a proxy. If configured to do so, the bottom panel will change to provide configuration options as shown in the following screenshot.
You can now specify the IP address or name of a proxy server, as well as the appropriate port number. If a proxy is in use, the name and port number must be specified by the person who controls access to the proxy server. He will also be able to tell you whether authentication is required to use the server, and if so, provide a user name and password which have been assigned to you.
This slider allows users of Malwarebytes Premium and Malwarebytes Premium Trial to restrict access to various features and functions in Malwarebytes with password protection. The Edit User Access button is only visible when the slider is in the On position, allowing the user to define sections of the program which require a password to access.
When Edit User Access is clicked, a new window opens directly above the Malwarebytes program screen to restrict access to selected areas of the program only to those users who possess the password. The password is also defined on this screen.
WARNING: This password is not recoverable. If you lose your password, you will have to reinstall Malwarebytes to access restricted features.
As shown above, the Reports tab has been placed under password control. This causes User Access to also be placed under password control. This prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to restricted areas.
When attempting to gain access to a restricted area, you will be required to enter a password (as shown here). If an incorrect password is entered, or if a null password is used, this error message will be displayed.
If this feature has been enabled and is subsequently disabled, any restrictions which have been defined are cancelled. This feature is not available to users of the Free version. Currently, only one policy may be in effect at any given time.
You may have noticed a flag in your system tray that sometimes has a red icon with a white X appear over the flag. That is a status indicator for the Windows Action Center, which tells you when your computer has a security issue that needs your attention. Malwarebytes Premium or Malwarebytes Premium Trial can now be registered as a security solution on your computer. There are three settings available, which will be abbreviated here for easier reading. Brief descriptions for the meaning of each setting are also provided.
Some Malwarebytes users want to try the newest features as soon as they are available, while some prefer to wait until the product is released. We have added this program setting so that if you want the latest and greatest immediately, we can deliver it to you automatically. When you enable this setting, you will see the following dialog box.
If you check this box, you will be sending us information that helps us do our jobs. We like to know what countries Malwarebytes is being used in, and the breakdown of subscriptions, Premium Trial versions, and Free versions. Our Research organization likes to keep track of what malware we are detecting and how often. We can learn that from what you send us, and that allows us to serve you more effectively. For a full list of information that is collected, please see our Privacy Policy. We hope that's fine with you as well.