How to Temporarily Disable the Norton 360 Background Scan

To pause Norton 360 background tasks while you work, play or watch something full screen, open Norton, click Settings, open the General tab, and under Notification settings click Edit Apps > Add Application. Norton then switches to Silent Mode whenever that app runs full screen, which suspends alerts and background tasks.

That is the lowest-risk option, because your protection stays on. If a scheduled scan keeps starting at a bad time, you can also change that scan to Run manually. Turning protection off completely is a separate step, and it is covered last because it carries the most risk.

These steps are for the current Norton 360 app on Windows and follow Norton’s guide to gaming and performance. Menu names can differ slightly between Norton plans and app versions, so a short section near the end covers the older layout.

What the Norton 360 Background Scan Is

Older Norton 360 releases had a feature that ran scans and other maintenance while the computer sat unused. Current versions split that work into a few separate pieces, and each one has its own control:

• Background tasks: maintenance work Norton does on its own. Silent Mode suspends these while a full-screen app is open.
• Scheduled scans: Smart Scan, Quick Scan, Full Scan and any custom scans can each run on a schedule that you set.
• Real-time protection: the always-on checking of files and activity. On Windows, the taskbar menu calls this Auto-Protect.
• Idle time out: how long the computer must sit unused before Norton treats it as idle.

Most people who want to stop the background scan really want the first or second item. Neither one requires turning your protection off.

Check Whether Norton Is Really the Cause

Before you change anything, Norton suggests checking how much of your computer it is using.

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. On the Processes tab, find the Norton process. The name varies by product and Windows version.
3. Look at the CPU and Memory columns for that process.

If Norton’s numbers are low, another program is slowing the computer, and pausing Norton will not help. If Norton is near the top of the list, use one of the methods below.

How to Pause Norton Background Tasks for a Full-Screen App

Silent Mode is Norton’s name for a state where it stops sending alert messages and suspends background tasks that slow performance. A feature called Full Screen Detection turns Silent Mode on automatically when Norton detects a full-screen application. Adding an app to the list tells Norton which programs you want this to apply to.

1. Open Norton 360. If a My Norton window appears first, click Open next to Device Security.
2. On the left pane, click Settings.
3. In the Settings window, click the General tab.
4. Under Notification settings, click Edit Apps, then Add Application, then Add.
5. Browse to the game, video player, presentation app or other program you want, and select it.
6. Click Done.

What to expect: the next time you open that app in full screen, Norton holds its alerts and background tasks. Nothing changes while the app is in a small window, so switch it to full screen when you want Norton to stay out of the way.

To undo it: go back to Settings > General > Edit Apps and remove the app from the list.

How to Stop a Scheduled Norton Scan From Starting

If a scan starts at the same time every day or week, it is running on a schedule. You can move the schedule or switch the scan to manual. This follows Norton’s instructions for configuring scan settings.

1. Open Norton 360.
2. On the left pane, click Security.
3. In the Security dashboard, find the Scans tile and click Open.
4. On the Preset Scans tab, click the settings icon next to the scan you want to change, such as Smart Scan or Full Scan.
5. Under Schedule your scan, choose Run manually.
6. Click Save.

These are the schedule choices. Not every setting appears for every scan.

Schedule option	What Norton does
Run manually	The scan runs only when you start it.
Once	The scan runs one time on the date and time you pick.
Daily	The scan runs every day at the time you pick.
Weekly	The scan runs on the days and times you pick.
Monthly	The scan runs on the day of the month and time you pick.

A scan set to Run manually never starts by itself, so remember to run one from time to time. If you would rather keep automatic scans, pick Weekly and choose a time when you are away from the computer. The computer must be turned on at the scheduled time for the scan to run.

Scans you created yourself are on the Custom scans tab. Open the menu next to a custom scan and click Edit to change its schedule, or Delete to remove it.

Make a Scan Lighter Instead of Stopping It

The same settings window has a Scan priority option with high, medium and low levels. It sets how much priority the scan gets over your other running programs. A lower priority is a reasonable middle ground when you want the scan to finish but need the computer to stay responsive.

Stop a Scan That Is Already Running

You can stop the current scan activity at any point. Open Norton, go to the scan that is in progress, and use the stop control in the scan window. A Full Scan can take several hours, so stopping it and running it later is often the practical choice.

How to Change When Norton Treats Your PC as Idle

Norton decides the computer is idle after it has gone unused for a set number of minutes. The default is 5 minutes, and you can raise it to as much as 30.

1. Open Norton 360 and click Settings on the left pane.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Find Idle time out and choose a longer duration.

A longer setting means stepping away for a few minutes is less likely to count as idle time. Norton’s documentation does not list exactly which tasks wait for idle time in the current app, so treat this as a fine-tuning step, not a guaranteed fix.

How to Silence Norton Notifications for a Set Time

If the pop-ups bother you more than the scanning, you can mute them without touching your protection. Norton’s device security settings guide describes the options.

1. Open Norton 360 and click Settings.
2. Click the Notifications tab.
3. Next to Silence all notifications, choose a duration. The options are 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours and 24 hours.

Notifications return by themselves when the time is up. To bring them back sooner, choose Don’t silence from the same list. Keep in mind that product notifications can’t be turned off permanently, and that muting them can also hide critical security alerts. If most of the pop-ups are backup reminders, you can stop them at the source by turning off Norton 360 backups.

Norton 360 for Gamers: Pause Background Tasks With Game Optimizer

The Norton 360 for Gamers plan includes a feature called Game Optimizer, which has its own switch for this job. According to Norton’s Game Optimizer page, it needs a Windows PC with a processor that has at least four cores.

1. Open the Norton 360 for Gamers app.
2. On the right pane, click the Gaming tile.
3. In the Gaming dashboard, click Settings.
4. In the Game Optimizer window, click the Settings tab.
5. Turn on Pause Norton background tasks.

This pauses all Norton tasks, and any scheduled scan activity waits until you finish playing. If you do not see a Gaming tile, your plan does not include this feature.

Older Norton 360 Versions

Norton has been moving Windows and Mac users to a redesigned Norton 360 app, and it says you cannot go back to the previous version after the upgrade. If your app still has the older layout, add programs under Silent Mode Settings instead, and Norton suspends background activity while they run.

1. Open Norton. If you see the My Norton window, click Open next to Device Security.
2. Click Settings, then Administrative Settings.
3. Under Silent Mode Settings, in the User-Specified Programs row, click Configure.
4. Click Add, select the program file, and click OK.

There are two limits here. Only programs with an .exe file extension can be added, and a program that is already open is not picked up until the next time it runs.

How to Turn Off Norton Protection Temporarily

Warning: Turning off protection leaves your computer vulnerable to attacks. Use this only to troubleshoot something you know is safe, pick the shortest duration that works, and avoid downloading or opening unfamiliar files while it is off. After you turn it back on, check your Norton 360 protection status to confirm the PC shows as protected again.

You need to be signed in to Windows with an administrator account. On a standard account, some settings can appear grayed out. The steps come from Norton’s article on temporarily turning off protection.

1. In the notification area at the right end of the taskbar, right-click the Norton icon. If you do not see it, click the small arrow to show hidden icons.
2. Click Disable Auto-Protect. There is a separate Disable Firewall option if the firewall is what you need to test.
3. In the Security Request window, open the Select the duration list and choose how long protection should stay off.
4. Click OK.

To confirm and undo: Norton turns the feature back on automatically after the duration you chose. To turn it on sooner, right-click the Norton icon again and click Enable Auto-Protect or Enable Firewall.

If the problem is one downloaded program that Norton blocked, you can instead turn off Download Intelligence in Norton 360 for a short time or exclude that file.

On a Mac the route is different. Norton’s instructions are to open the app, click Security, click Smart Firewall, move the slider to off, and pick a duration in the alert window.

Troubleshooting

• Disable Auto-Protect is grayed out: sign in with a Windows administrator account. Some settings appear disabled on standard accounts.
• There is no Edit Apps button: your app may use the older layout. Try the Administrative Settings steps above, and run LiveUpdate so the app is current.
• The app is in the list but Norton still interrupts: Full Screen Detection only reacts to full-screen apps. Check that the program is not running in a window.
• A scan still starts by itself: each scan has its own schedule. Check the settings icon for every preset scan, and look at the Custom scans tab as well.
• A setting named here is missing: not all features are available in all plans, and not all scan settings appear for all scans.
• Norton still uses a lot of CPU: Norton’s Settings window has a Troubleshooting section with a Create a Log option under Log a performance problem, which sends performance data to Norton for analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Step

Start with the full-screen app list, since it costs nothing in protection. If a scan still gets in the way, change that scan’s schedule to Run manually or move it to a time when the computer is on but not in use. Save Disable Auto-Protect for troubleshooting, and check the Norton icon afterward to make sure protection is back on.