Malwarebytes is a popular antivirus software that protects your computer from various malware attacks. It comes with a quarantine feature that helps you isolate potentially harmful files that have been detected on your computer. The quarantine feature keeps these files in a secure location, preventing them from causing any damage to your system. In this article, we'll discuss how to delete quarantined items in Malwarebytes.
What are Quarantined Items in Malwarebytes?
When Malwarebytes detects a potentially harmful file on your computer, it moves it to a secure location called quarantine. Quarantine is like a digital prison where these files are kept isolated from the rest of your system. This prevents them from causing any harm to your computer.
Quarantined items can be viewed in the Quarantine tab of the Malwarebytes user interface. From here, you can restore or delete quarantined items.
How to Delete Quarantined Items in Malwarebytes?
Deleting quarantined items in Malwarebytes is a straightforward process. Here's how you can do it:
- Open Malwarebytes on your computer.
- Click on the Quarantine tab in the left pane of the user interface.
- Select the items you want to delete by clicking on the checkbox next to them.
- Click on the Delete button at the bottom of the screen.
- Confirm that you want to delete the selected items by clicking on the Yes button.
Once you've completed these steps, the selected quarantined items will be permanently deleted from your computer.
Why Should You Delete Quarantined Items?
While quarantine is a safe place to keep potentially harmful files, it's always a good idea to delete them once you're sure that they are not needed. Here are a few reasons why you should delete quarantined items:
- Free up space: Quarantined items take up valuable space on your hard drive. By deleting them, you can free up this space and improve your computer's performance.
- Reduce security risks: Even though quarantined items are isolated from the rest of your system, they can still pose a security risk. By deleting them, you can reduce the risk of these files accidentally being released from quarantine and causing harm to your computer.
- Organize your system: Deleting quarantined items helps you keep your computer organized and clutter-free.
What Happens When You Delete Quarantined Items?
When you delete quarantined items in Malwarebytes, they are permanently removed from your computer. This means that you won't be able to restore them if you later discover that they were not harmful after all.
It's always a good idea to double-check that the items you want to delete are not needed before you delete them. You can do this by researching the file online or seeking advice from a computer security professional.
Conclusion
Deleting quarantined items in Malwarebytes is an easy process that can help you free up space, reduce security risks, and keep your computer organized. It's important to remember that once you delete a quarantined item, it cannot be restored. So, make sure that you are confident in your decision before you delete any files.
