{"id":2469,"date":"2007-08-12T16:37:18","date_gmt":"2007-08-12T11:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T16:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T11:23:45","slug":"virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/","title":{"rendered":"VirusTotal: Free Online Virus Scan with 70+ Antivirus Engines (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Got a suspicious file or link and not sure if it is safe? <strong>VirusTotal<\/strong> is a free online service that scans files and URLs with dozens of antivirus engines at once and shows you the result from each. We first wrote about it in 2007, when it was run by Spain&#8217;s Hispasec Sistemas. Google bought VirusTotal in 2012, and it is now part of Google&#8217;s security tools, but it is still free for anyone. Here is how to use the VirusTotal free online scan in 2026.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-63954\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/virustotal-free-online-scan-1024x538.webp\" alt=\"VirusTotal free online virus scan\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/virustotal-free-online-scan-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/virustotal-free-online-scan-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/virustotal-free-online-scan-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/virustotal-free-online-scan-768x403.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/virustotal-free-online-scan.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> Go to virustotal.com, drag a file onto the page or paste a URL, and click Search or Scan. VirusTotal checks it with 70+ antivirus engines and URL scanners and shows how many flagged it. One or two detections may be false alarms; many detections mean you should delete the file. Never upload private or confidential files, because uploads are shared with security researchers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad2b922d8f28\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad2b922d8f28\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#What_can_VirusTotal_scan\" >What can VirusTotal scan?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#How_to_scan_a_file_with_VirusTotal\" >How to scan a file with VirusTotal<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#How_to_check_a_link_before_clicking\" >How to check a link before clicking<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#How_to_read_VirusTotal_results\" >How to read VirusTotal results<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#Important_privacy_warning\" >Important privacy warning<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#VirusTotal_is_not_an_antivirus\" >VirusTotal is not an antivirus<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#VirusTotal_apps_and_extensions\" >VirusTotal apps and extensions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#Is_VirusTotal_free\" >Is VirusTotal free?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#Is_VirusTotal_safe_to_use\" >Is VirusTotal safe to use?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2007\/08\/virustotal-free-online-scan-with-multiple-antivirus-engines\/#Can_I_still_email_files_to_VirusTotal\" >Can I still email files to VirusTotal?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_can_VirusTotal_scan\"><\/span>What can VirusTotal scan?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Files:<\/strong> programs, documents, archives and more, up to 650 MB.<\/li>\n<li><strong>URLs:<\/strong> paste a link from an email or message before you open it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Domains and IP addresses:<\/strong> see whether a site is linked to malware or phishing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>File hashes:<\/strong> search by the file&#8217;s SHA-256 or MD5 hash without uploading it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_scan_a_file_with_VirusTotal\"><\/span>How to scan a file with VirusTotal<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Open <a href=\"https:\/\/www.virustotal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">virustotal.com<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>On the <strong>File<\/strong> tab, click &#8220;Choose file&#8221; or drag the file onto the page.<\/li>\n<li>Wait while it uploads and is analysed. If the file was scanned before, you see the earlier result straight away and can click &#8220;Reanalyze&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li>Read the detection ratio, such as &#8220;3\/72 security vendors flagged this file as malicious&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_check_a_link_before_clicking\"><\/span>How to check a link before clicking<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Copy the link (right-click and &#8220;Copy link address&#8221;), open the <strong>URL<\/strong> tab and paste it. VirusTotal checks it against many website blocklists. This is a great way to test links in emails that might be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/03\/fake-phishing-email\/\">phishing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_read_VirusTotal_results\"><\/span>How to read VirusTotal results<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>0 detections:<\/strong> no engine found a problem. Not a guarantee, but a good sign.<\/li>\n<li><strong>1 to 3 detections:<\/strong> often false positives from smaller engines, especially for new or rare programs. Check which engines flagged it and whether the major ones agree.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Many detections:<\/strong> treat the file as malware and delete it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Details and Behavior tabs:<\/strong> show what the file does when run in a sandbox, such as network connections and files it creates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Community tab:<\/strong> comments from researchers and other users.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Important_privacy_warning\"><\/span>Important privacy warning<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Files you upload to VirusTotal can be downloaded by paying security partners and researchers. Do not upload private documents, contracts, tax returns or anything containing passwords or personal data. For those, search the file hash instead of uploading.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"VirusTotal_is_not_an_antivirus\"><\/span>VirusTotal is not an antivirus<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>VirusTotal checks single files and links on demand. It does not protect your computer in real time or remove infections. Keep Microsoft Defender or another antivirus running, and use a second-opinion scanner like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/07\/mcafee-avert-stinger-antivirus-tool\/\">McAfee Stinger<\/a> if you suspect an infection.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"VirusTotal_apps_and_extensions\"><\/span>VirusTotal apps and extensions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>VT4Browsers:<\/strong> an official browser extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox that lets you scan links and downloads with a right-click.<\/li>\n<li><strong>API:<\/strong> developers can check files and URLs automatically with a free public API key (with rate limits).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_VirusTotal_free\"><\/span>Is VirusTotal free?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, the website and basic API are free. Google sells premium versions to companies.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_VirusTotal_safe_to_use\"><\/span>Is VirusTotal safe to use?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, but remember that uploaded files are shared with the security community.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_still_email_files_to_VirusTotal\"><\/span>Can I still email files to VirusTotal?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. The old email scanning service has been retired. Use the website, browser extension or API.<\/p>\n<p>Have you ever caught malware with VirusTotal? Tell us in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Got a suspicious file or link and not sure if it is safe? VirusTotal is a free online service that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":63954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2469"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63955,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469\/revisions\/63955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}