How do I whitelist a program in Bitdefender?

Bitdefender is one of our favorite antivirus programs for Mac and PC users. It's got some interesting features that make it stand out among other popular security suites like Avast! and Kaspersky. One feature we love about BitDefender is its ability to block sites you don't want your computer to visit. You can also set up filters to prevent certain types of threats from spreading further across your network.

You might be wondering why BitDefender would allow you to block websites but still scan them when they come through as part of an attack attempt. The answer lies within their own Terms and Conditions section where they explain what exactly happens with each type of threat. Here are some examples:

- A site which has been compromised is blocked until it is cleaned. This will only happen if the malware tries to spread via email attachments, links, etc.

- An entire domain name (e.g., example.com) is blocked because it contains malicious code.

- A URL containing malicious content is blocked so that no user action is required to open it. This includes any web page, applet, script tag, pop-up window, or link embedded in another webpage.

These terms help clarify why BitDefender doesn’t automatically block all incoming traffic whenever there is a known infection. Instead, they give us more control over what gets filtered and what stays allowed. If you're interested in learning more about this process, check out our guide to creating custom filter lists. 

Once you understand how BitDefender works, you'll find yourself asking questions such as "How do I whitelist a program?" We've already covered how to create new Firewall Rules in previous articles, but sometimes you need to clear a specific rule. For instance, maybe you have a client who wants to use Wordpress on their website, but BitDefender keeps blocking access to WordPress after scanning their system. Let's look at several ways to whitelisting apps and tools in BitDefender.

How do I change the firewall settings on Bitdefender?

If you'd prefer not to rely on third party services to whitelist software, you can always go into Bitdefender GravityZone and manually edit the list. To get started, click Preferences then Security tab. From here, select the Enable Firewalls button next to Block All Traffic. Next, click Add Exceptions and choose Custom List. In this case, you should enter the following information:

Name - Whitelisted Websites

URL - http://www.google.com/

Protocol - HTTP

Port number - 80

The first field allows you to specify whatever name you wish to call your list. Then, simply paste in the address of the website you want to permit. Finally, leave the protocol blank since BitDefender will assume HTTPS unless otherwise specified. After saving your changes, BitDefender will start allowing these applications without having to configure anything else.

This method isn't perfect though. Since BitDefender relies heavily upon heuristics rather than actual signatures, it may occasionally miss something important due to false positives. However, since most people aren't likely to run through every single exception every time they install software, this approach makes sense.

How do I add exceptions to Bitdefender?

Sometimes you just know you need to bypass BitDefender's firewall and let someone log onto their account. Maybe it's a family member or friend that needs a quick way to download movies or music. Or perhaps you just forgot to turn off the VPN service before leaving work. Whatever the reason, adding exceptions to an existing rule is easy enough. Simply follow the steps below:

Click Edit Rule Name.

Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click Add Exception.

Choose Allow Website Access from the dropdown menu.

Enter the full path to the website in question followed by /index.html#hashtag.exclude_this_from_bitdefenders_scanning

For example, if your friend needed to login to Facebook, you could enter facebook.com/#login/exception.

Now, they can easily sign in without getting flagged for suspicious activity. Keep in mind that this option won't work if you're trying to connect to a server outside of BitDefender's IP range. Fortunately, BitDefender does provide a couple of different options for connecting to servers that fall outside of those ranges. Learn more about how BitDefender handles remote connections on our dedicated article.

How do I add whitelist to Bitdefender?

If you really need to bypass BitDefender's firewalls and whitelist a particular site, you can try using BitDefender's built-in whitelist tool instead. Unfortunately, there's no manual configuration available here either, making it difficult to determine whether or not a given entry actually exists. Thankfully, you can take advantage of BitDefender's advanced search capabilities to locate items specifically related to whitelisting. Just perform the following steps:

Right click anywhere inside BitDefender Gravity Zone and select Search.

Type in the text string "whitelist" and hit Enter.

Hit Filters and uncheck Hide Unrelated Results.

Select Apply Filter Changes and wait while BitDefender scans the current folder.

When finished, return to Step 1 above and repeat Steps 3 & 4 until you've found all of the entries you were looking for. When you're done, hit OK and close BitDefender Gravity Zone. Now you can open the selected item(s) and begin working with them.

How do I whitelist my salad on Bitdefender?

While it's possible to whitelist individual files or folders in BitDefender, you probably won't see much benefit from doing so. Most attacks today involve exploiting vulnerabilities in browser plugins, games, and media players. By default, BitDefender automatically updates itself to mitigate common exploits. As long as you keep your operating systems updated, you shouldn't ever encounter issues with this. But even if you did, you wouldn't likely notice it happening. That said, it's worth taking the extra step to whitelist commonly exploited files or folders anyway.

To learn more about how to whitelist files or folders in BitDefender, check out our guides covering how to enable BitDefender Sandbox mode and how to remove temporary files in BitDefender.

BitDefender

When you first launch the app, you'll see a welcome screen with three options on it. The most common option here would be to scan your system for any viruses. However, if you're looking at this guide because you've installed BitDefender but are having trouble figuring out what settings to use, then click Whitelisting.

You should now get two options on the right-hand side: Scan Files and Scan Folders. Both allow you to scan specific items within your entire hard drive. If you'd rather not have BitDefender scan every single file and folder on your machine, choose Scan Folders instead.

This will open a new window where you can tell BitDefender which folders to scan. In order to create an exclusion list, you need to select All Files and Folders. This allows you to pick individual folders that you don't want BitDefender to scan. Simply drag each folder into the left pane until all of them appear there. Then hit Add Folder and save.

If you ever find yourself needing to remove something from your exclusions list, simply go back to the main menu (click the cog icon), navigate down to Exclusions List, and delete whatever item you wish to remove.

Note: When you're creating an exclusion list, you must keep track of all of the excluded folders so you know exactly which ones were added during future scans. That way, you won't accidentally forget to add something else later.

Click OK when you finish adding your exclusions.

Scan Options

Choose whether to scan everything or just selected files/folders.

Select the type of scanning you want to perform - Full System, Quick Scan, Custom Scan, etc.

Bitdefender is one of the most popular antivirus solutions on the market today. It's easy to install and use, so if you're looking for something simple that will keep your computer safe without too much hassle, this might be it! While Bitdefender has several different features including antiphishing protection, web security, email scanning, etc., we'll focus specifically on its ability to scan through your system and detect malware.

The main way Bitdefender detects threats is via its built-in antivirus engine. However, there are times when an exception needs to be created. For example, you may want to allow a specific app (like Skype) to run but not all apps. Or maybe you don't want Bitdefender to scan certain types of files like images or videos. This article explains how to create these kinds of exceptions as well as other ways to manage Bitdefender's behavior.

If you'd rather skip straight to our recommendations instead, head over here.

Note: If you've already installed Bitdefender, then please refer to our guide on how to remove it first. Otherwise, follow along below.

How do I add exceptions to Bitdefender GravityZone?

When using Bitdefender GravityZone, you can set up "exceptions" for various programs and websites. So, let's say that you have a lot of music streaming services on your device. You could add Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Google Play Music, Tidal, Deezer, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Vimeo, Twitch, and others to your list of allowed sites. The same goes with individual apps: You could whitelist Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu, CBS All Access, Disney Plus, and more.

To access these options within Bitdefender GravityZone, open the program and click on the gear icon at the top right corner. Then choose Preferences. Here, select Exceptions under the Privacy tab. Under Exceptions, simply drag and drop each site into the box next to Allow. Click Save Changes.

A new window should pop up asking which action you would like to take after adding the site. Choose Add Site or Remove Site depending on whether you just added the site or removed it.

You can also enable exceptions directly from the desktop version of Bitdefender. To do this, go to Security & privacy " Web browser " Manage exceptions. Make sure you check Block known malicious downloads before downloading anything else. Also make sure that No automatic updates is selected. Finally, uncheck any boxes under Blocked content that you think shouldn't be blocked. When finished, click OK. From now on, whenever you visit those websites, Bitdefender won't automatically download them. Instead, they'll appear in the exception bar above the address bar.

In addition to allowing sites and apps, you can also add exceptions based on file type. In Bitdefender GravityZone, click File Types under Protections " Scanning. Simply scroll down until you see what you need and click the plus button (+). Select Files containing media formats from this section. Next, you'll need to specify which file extensions you wish to include. Drag and drop the extension(s) onto the list. Once done, click Filter. Now, only files with that extension will show up in the menu. Repeat this process for any other extensions you want to include/exclude.

Finally, you can even prevent Bitdefender from running scans altogether. Click Advanced under Protected activities and untick Run full scans.

How do I whitelist an application in Bitdefender?

There are two different methods for whitelisting an application in Bitdefender. One method allows you to enter an URL while another lets you define a path where the application resides. Let's walk through both scenarios.

First, let's start with entering an entire domain name or IP address. To do this, open Bitdefender GravityZone and navigate to Applications " Internet. Scroll down to find the app you want to whitelist, such as Gmail or Outlook.com. Right-click on the desired item and select Whitelist Domain Name or IP Address. Enter the domain or IP address followed by clicking Add. Do this for every app you want to whitelist.

Next, let's look at the second option: defining a folder or file location. First, launch Bitdefender GravityZone and navigate to Applications " Internet. Find the app you want to whitelist, such as Chrome or Firefox. Double-click the desired app to get started. On the left side, you'll see General Information about the app. Below that, you'll see Options. At the very bottom, you can either Add Folder Path or Browse Directory.

Click Browse Directory and browse to wherever you want to save the app. After selecting the correct directory, hit Done. Bitdefender will ask if you want to restart the app. Hit Yes. Your app should function normally once again.

Now that you know how to whitelist an application, let's learn how to add a website to the Bitdefender GravityZone whitelist.

How do you add salad to whitelist?

As mentioned earlier, Bitdefender offers many different ways to configure the software. While some people prefer the simplicity of having things automated, others enjoy doing things manually. Either works fine. But regardless of how you approach setting up Bitdefender, you must remember that you cannot change the default behavior of the software. That means you can never turn off Bitdefender's auto-scanning feature. Thus, you always need to ensure that no dangerous items slip past the scanner.

With that said, you still have plenty of control over the scan itself. And since Bitdefender uses heuristics to determine whether something is harmful or benign, you can actually train the software to recognize the exact kind of threat you're trying to avoid.

For instance, suppose you regularly receive emails from shady domains. These emails try to trick you into downloading viruses or other forms of malware. With Bitdefender, you can tell the software to ignore these messages. To do this, go to Applications " Email client " Bitdefender Mail Client. Under Filters, click Configure filter rules. A new dialog will pop up showing all available filters. By default, these filters are empty because Bitdefender doesn't currently support any custom filtering rules. But that doesn't mean you can't create your own.

At the top of the page, you'll notice three tabs labeled Default Rules, Custom Rules, and Global Rules. Each of these sections contains similar controls. We'll begin with the Custom Rules section. There, you can easily tweak existing rulesets as needed. Just double-click the rule you want to edit and adjust the values accordingly.

After tweaking your setup, click Apply Rule Set. Now, the changes will apply globally across all users. If you want to limit this to a single user, however, you can do that too. Click Edit Profile and choose User profile. Next, click New rule. Then, copy and paste the rule you edited previously. Adjusting the data fields according to your requirements. Lastly, click Apply Rule Set and exit out of the editor.

Once you finish creating and applying your filter ruleset, you can repeat the steps outlined above to whitelist your preferred websites. As long as you update the setting before visiting the site, Bitdefender GravityZone will stop blocking it entirely.

Can Bitdefender block applications?

Yes, it does. Bitdefender offers multiple ways to block unwanted applications. For starters, you can use Bitdefender ZoneControl™, a third-party tool that gives you complete control over Bitdefender's firewall settings. Alternatively, you can disable Bitdefender's firewall completely.

Go to Applications " System tools " Firewall Configuration. Uncheck the Enable firewalls option and click Close. Restart your PC. You'll see that Bitdefender isn't blocking anything anymore.

However, if you really want to fully disable Bitdefender's firewall, you can do that too. Start by opening Control Panel. Expand Programs and Features under Windows Defender, then click Turn Windows defender back on. You'll see a prompt letting you know that disabling Bitdefender will cause permanent damage to your machine. Press Continue anyway. Afterward, you'll see a message telling you that the change was made successfully. Now, restart your PC or logoff and sign back in.

Bitdefender's firewall is extremely powerful. Unfortunately, the company hasn't been able to figure out a good balance between keeping your devices protected and giving you enough flexibility to customize their behavior. Thankfully, you can.

Bitdefender GravityZone is the free antivirus that comes with your subscription to Bitdefender Total Security Premium (TBSP). While it's not as powerful as its paid-for competitors, there are some features you might want to take advantage of if you're on a tight budget. If you're looking for ways to make Bitdefender more effective, then check out our guide to making Bitdefender better at protecting Windows 10 computers.

You can use these tips and tricks to help protect yourself against threats like ransomware, malware, spyware, phishing attacks, malicious websites and much more. And because Bitdefender has been around since 2001, we've got plenty of experience helping people through this process. So without further ado, here are all the answers to questions about Bitdefender exclusions.

How do I stop Bitdefender blocking a program?

When you install Bitdefender GravityZone, you'll be asked whether you'd prefer to run the software "as an exception" or "by default." If you choose to run as an exception, then Bitdefender will ignore any attempts to block programs. It won't even ask permission before doing so! The downside is that if you launch Bitdefender while one of those programs is running, it could cause problems.

To change which applications are blocked, go to Protection & Privacy " Advanced Threat Defense " Exceptions. You'll see a list of installed apps, along with the current state of each app -- either "Blocked" or "Not Blocked." Clicking Details next to each entry gives you a few options: Block All Files, Allow Only Signed Applications, or Allow Excepted Programs.

The last option lets you add individual applications to the whitelisted category. To enable them, click Add File Extension, enter the extension name, select the folder where the.exe resides, and hit OK. Then repeat the same steps for other extensions you don't wish to block.

Note that when adding new entries, only the first character is allowed, and you have no choice but to accept whatever Bitdefender suggests. For example, Bitdefender doesn't let me add.pcap,.zip, or.jar files, even though they may contain legitimate content. But you can still add.jpgs,.mp4s, and.avi files.

Once you've added the desired extensions, Bitdefender will automatically update their status every time you open the Bitdefender GravityZone window. This makes sure that none of the whitelisted apps ever become unblocked again.

How do I get Bitdefender to allow a program?

For most users, Bitdefender should never need to approve access to programs, especially the ones included with TBSP. However, if you find that certain programs continue getting blocked after following the instructions above, try disabling Safe Browsing entirely. That way, Bitdefender won't think you're trying to cheat it into thinking something's wrong with your computer.

Click Start Options under the Bitdefender icon in the system tray, then click Privacy and Safety " Safe Search and Filtering. In the bottom right corner, you'll see two icons. One looks like a search box, the other appears to be a wrench. Select the wrench, and turn off Safe Browsing completely. Now restart the browser and attempt to view the site once more. Hopefully, Bitdefender will now recognize that nothing is amiss and grant full access.

Alternatively, you can also follow our tutorial on turning off safe browsing altogether, although keep in mind that once you reenable the feature, sites will start throwing up errors until you refresh the page.

Finally, you can always try manually editing the registry. We recommend using Registry Editor instead of going down the route shown below. First, double-click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies key, and look for the DisableSafeSearch value. Double-click it, set the Value data field to 1, and press Enter. Next, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AdvancedSettings, and look for DisableAutoRunApps. Set the Value data field to 0 (zero), and press Enter. Restart your PC, and hopefully your favorite web browsers will appear immediately.

How do I disable advanced threat defense in Bitdefender?

This setting allows you to prevent Bitdefender from scanning particular types of files. By default, it scans everything. To limit what it checks, head over to Protection & Privacy " Advanced Threat Detection " Scan Rules, and create a rule that says Never scan the following file type(s) (or similar): *.docx, *.pptx, *.pdf, *.png, *txt, *.csv, *.csv, *.xml, *.html, *.htm. Hit Save Changes, and you're done.

Now, whenever you load up a Word document or Powerpoint presentation, Bitdefender will know not to bother checking it for viruses. Of course, this means that anything saved in those formats isn't protected anymore. But it also means that you can safely leave Microsoft Office tools alone, since they're already covered by Bitdefender's built-in protection.

Also note that this feature applies to Windows Defender too. When enabled, it prevents Bitdefender from launching a real anti-virus scanner. Instead, it uses its own detection engine, which is slower than standard security suites.

Here's another suggestion: Turn off Bitdefender's SmartScan function. Head back to the home screen, select Options, then choose Performance. Check the box marked Use custom scan engine, and click Apply. You'll lose some performance, but you'll save battery life and reduce strain on your CPU.

How do I stop Bitdefender from blocking Chrome?

Chrome is currently the world leader among desktop browsers when it comes to market share. According to NetMarketShare, Google Chrome had roughly 45% of the global browser market in April 2020. As such, many antivirus companies consider it dangerous enough that they'd rather not offer support for it. After all, why risk annoying customers who happen to use Chrome?

Fortunately, you can easily bypass this problem. Just download a different browser. Our best alternative is Opera, which gets regular updates and offers solid privacy protections. Other good choices include Brave Browser and Vivaldi.

As far as Bitdefender goes, you can simply uninstall it altogether. Then reinstall it later. Or you can just tell it to forget about Chrome while keeping its existing settings intact. Either method works fine.

And remember: There are lots of reasons why you shouldn't trust Bitdefender. Even though it includes antivirus functionality, it was recently caught selling fake fixes to infected machines. So don't hesitate to stick with your usual security suite if you feel safer that way.

All information in this article is provided solely for educational and informational purposes, and is not intended to substitute for advice provided by a physician or medical provider. See terms and conditions for more details.