#1 Norton Review in 2024
Norton is one of the most used antivirus products in the world. Its popularity stems from its effectiveness, robust feature set, and reputation for reliability.
Yet, how can you know if it’s actually a good product? If you’re not sure whether or not Norton antivirus is the right choice for you, this review will help you decide.
This isn't a typical superficial review. It’s a highly detailed analysis filled with over 50 screenshots showing you Norton in action.
In this Norton antivirus review, you will learn:
The best and worst features of Norton
How fast and reliable the scan engine is
If Norton slows your computer down
Whether you can trust Norton
And much more
Let’s begin.
In a Hurry? Here’s a Quick Summary:
Norton is one of the most advanced antivirus solutions on the market. It provides almost everything you need to secure your computer and your data. Notable features include a speedy VPN, backup options, and a dependable app for parental controls.
During my testing for this Norton antivirus review, Norton didn't miss any threats. It successfully identified and eliminated all malware and online risks I exposed it to. Plus, the identity protection features are the best in their class.
While Norton was scanning, my computer didn't slow down, which is a good thing. Another great point about Norton is its wide range of product options. It offers a suitable protection plan for everyone (including gamers).
To conclude, Norton is among the best antivirus products in our list of the best antivirus software. Give it a try today.
What You'll Like:
Quick and trustworthy scans
Great app for parental controls
Plenty of cloud backup storage
60-day refund policy
What You Might Not Like:
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What Makes This Norton Antivirus Review Different?
Lots of fake antivirus software reviews can be found online. These so-called reviews aren't created by cybersecurity experts who actually install and test antivirus products. Rather, they're done by editors who simply borrow the text and images from the developer's site.
What makes AntivirusGuide different is that we buy, install, analyze, and draw conclusions about the antivirus solutions listed on our website. My primary test machine for this Norton antivirus review was a Dell XPS laptop, but I also tested Norton on a MacBook Pro M1 and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.
Moreover, it took me about two weeks to complete this review of Norton. I examined all its features in that period and took over 100 screenshots. Over 50 of them are included in the final version of the Norton review.
If you're still unsure if Norton is right for you, read on for more details below.
Buying Norton Antivirus
For this Norton review, I bought Norton 360 Premium. It was a little hard to decide which version to get because Norton offers many choices. Norton 360 Premium has tons of features you'd expect from an antivirus app, like a built-in firewall, real-time protection, and a password manager.
The best part?
New users get a big discount. I got Norton at a price 52% lower, which was great as I could use the saved money for other tools.
After I clicked the 'Buy' button, I entered information like my email address. The process was simple, with no tricky sales tactics. Norton used my email to create a NortonLifeLock account, which I had to confirm using an email they sent me.
Later, I received an email confirming my purchase and another email with a download link for the antivirus software.
Once I chose the right Norton version for me, the buying process was smooth.
Installation
The installation process took roughly two minutes. I started by downloading a small 3.6 MB installer from the purchase confirmation email. When I double-clicked the installer, it downloaded the entire 268 MB package.
During installation, Norton displayed some threats it can protect against, like ransomware.
After the installation finished, I was asked if I wanted to protect another device since I had bought ten licenses. I sent a link to my Android phone and installed Norton 360 on it too. The phone app worked great.
I also liked the user interface tour Norton offered, which helped me understand the software interface.
The installation was quick and included a useful guide to the user interface.
Interface
Norton's user interface is divided into two sections. On the left, there's a picture of a person hiking in the mountains, likely reflecting Norton's focus on privacy and peace of mind. On the right side, you'll find shortcuts to key features like quick scan, VPN, and password manager.
Even though the picture is nice, it would be more useful to have additional links or shortcuts. For instance, a button for the PC cleanup tool would be convenient here.
But if you don't prefer the new interface, you can switch back to the classic view. This view presents all Norton features, divided into five categories, except for the VPN and Parental Control features.
When you click on a category, the features under that category will appear. It's a smart way to make the interface user-friendly.
Regarding general settings, you can access antivirus settings via the gear icon on the main interface. This will allow you to take a product tour, change the launch view, and open the VPN settings.
To get to the actual security settings, you need to open the classic interface and click the 'Settings' button at the top. Here, you can adjust every feature.
The interface is well-organized and makes it easy to find a security feature.
Major Features
Norton has many features, but did they all work as well as expected? Let's see.
Ransomware Protection
Ransomware is a huge threat in the cyber landscape. Therefore, for this Norton antivirus review, I wanted to check how well it could handle ransomware. I used the KnowBe4 ransomware simulator for testing. The program blocked 16 out of 21 scenarios, which is one of the best results I’ve seen.
Still, Norton doesn't have any settings for its anti-ransomware shield. But the test showed that it can stop threats trying to take over your data.
Norton blocked 16/21 ransomware attack scenarios, which is excellent.
Web Protection
Norton's web protection comes from the browser protection layer you can turn on from the Firewall settings.
To test this feature, I visited several harmful websites in Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. The first site was maliciouswebsitetest.com. My router, powered by Trend Micro, blocked it before Norton had a chance. But Norton's Safe Web extension marked this site as dangerous in Google search results. This suggests that Norton could have blocked this site if my router didn't do it first.
The next site I tested was wicar.org. Norton successfully blocked the harmful links on this site, showing a warning message.
Lastly, Norton stopped all the harmful links and attachments on amtso.org.
Norton's Safe Web extension adds more safety when browsing the Internet. It shows how safe links are in search results, but it sometimes marks safe links as suspicious. It is also meant to open banking sites in a special mode for handling data safely, but this feature didn't work for me.
The web protection layer blocked most of the threats I opened.
Scanning Options
I tested all the scanning options that Norton offers, and here are my findings.
The quick scan took around two minutes, which is normal. When I ran it a second time, it finished in about one minute. I was happy with the 50% time reduction.
Furthermore, the first full scan was quick, taking only ten minutes. But it used a lot of computer resources. I'll talk more about this later in this Norton antivirus review. During the full scan, I only performed light tasks or none at all, as my computer tended to slow down.
The third type of scan, custom scan, lets you choose specific files and folders to scan. You can do this through the antivirus program or by right-clicking on the file or folder. You can also set a schedule and other options:
If you want to scan for threats in a different way, use Norton Power Eraser. It finds hard-to-remove threats like potentially unwanted applications. But it's pretty aggressive and might flag good apps, so be careful. You can also get it as a separate tool on Norton’s website. If a severe infection prevents your computer from starting, Norton has a Bootable Recovery Tool to help.
Anyway, Norton Power Eraser was quick in my tests and didn’t find any suspicious objects.
Norton Insight is another tool in the scan arsenal. It organizes your files by trust level. Norton checks your files and programs against a big database of known good and bad files (over four billion). I like this feature because it saves time by skipping harmless files and checking the rest.
The diagnostic report checks for various issues, like problems with installed programs, network connectivity, and more. My tests for this Norton review found issues with startup programs and my network. Clicking "Fix Now" solved these problems.
Lastly, you can access security reports in History. This shows you things like past scan results and when the silent mode was activated.
Overall, Norton's scans are fast and varied and performed well in my tests.
VPN
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an important privacy tool often included by antivirus companies. Norton 360 has a full VPN that you can also get separately from the antivirus software.
Interestingly, Norton’s VPN is part of the main antivirus window, as shown in the interface:
Before you connect, you need to pick a region. Norton gives you a list of 31 countries.
In the settings, you can turn on auto-connect, activate the kill switch, block ad trackers, or use Split Tunnel. The kill switch cuts off your internet if the VPN stops, and Split Tunnel lets you pick apps to exclude from the VPN — a feature not many VPNs offer.
I checked Norton’s VPN speeds on fast.com. Here are the results:
Without VPN: 430 Mbps download, 450 Mbps upload, 4 ms latency
USA: 270 Mbps download, 20 Mbps upload, and 188 ms latency
Brazil: 4.6 Mbps download, 11 Mbps upload, and 406 ms latency
Finland: 31 Mbps download, 41 Mbps upload, and 66 ms latency
The US server was faster than the Brazil and Finland ones. This is fine for me because I often connect to the US server for streaming and media content.
I also checked if the VPN allows torrenting (also known as P2P activity).
The answer?
Sadly, it doesn’t. The VPN disconnected whenever I tried downloading Linux using uTorrent. Here's the popup message:
For privacy tests, I used ipleak.net to see if my real IP was leaked when the VPN was active. The good news is there were no leaks. Norton VPN showed an IP linked to the region I connected to. The perfect-privacy.com test results were also good. According to these tests, Norton’s VPN hid my IP address and location.
The VPN is fast using the US server, and the IP leak test results were good.
Firewall
A firewall is a key tool for the protection of your computer, keeping you safe from unwanted internet connections. Norton has its own firewall that automatically replaces the default Windows one.
You can find Norton’s firewall settings in the Settings window. It took me a bit of time to find it, and I wished it was easier to find from the main program screen.
However, once I found the firewall settings, I had lots of options to change. I could adjust the security of my local and wireless networks. I could also control what my installed programs could access, the traffic rules, and many options for preventing intrusions.
To test how well the firewall works (the network protection), I used ShieldsUp! — a well-known firewall test tool. As I thought, my computer didn’t react to the test's UPnP probes, which means the test was successful:
The firewall has many settings and successfully passed a vulnerability test.
Safe Family
Just like many top-notch antivirus programs, Norton also includes a feature for parental control in their software. This feature, called Safe Family, is one of the best apps for parental control that I've used.
You can control Safe Family through an online dashboard that you can open from the main Norton window. Here, you can create and manage accounts for your kids, receive alerts about your child’s activities, and do many other things.
Setting up a child's account is easy. It involves picking a name, a photo, and a level of restriction: low, moderate, high, or very high. The level of restriction should be higher for younger kids.
You can track what content your child saw, how long they saw it, and where they saw it:
Parents can also pick the type of content they want their child to access. I like how each type of content has a unique icon:
When a child tries to visit a blocked website, Norton shows a page like the one below. I like that kids have an option to explain why they want to visit that website.
Safe Family also has a desktop tool for controlling a few settings, like editing the account:
A useful feature of Safe Family is that it allows another parent to monitor their child's activities. This makes it easier for both parents to make sure their child is only seeing age-appropriate content.
I also like the “school time” feature. It lets you pick the time and specific websites your child can visit when they’re doing online school — and for how long.
Overall, Safe Family is one of the best parental control apps that I've used.
SafeCam
Considering the privacy concerns we face today, SafeCam is a welcomed addition to Norton’s security software. SafeCam keeps you safe from unauthorized access to your webcam. You can find this feature under the Security tab in the main Norton window:
There's just one setting you can change: "automatically allow good apps." Although it seems limited, remember that many other antivirus programs don’t even have settings to manage webcam protection.
You also have the power to manually choose which apps can use your webcam.
During my tests for this Norton review, it alerted me whenever an app tried to access my webcam. I could choose to allow or block access, and Norton remembered my choice.
SafeCam did a good job alerting me when apps tried to access my webcam.
Email Protection
Norton’s email protection is an anti-spam filter that works only with Microsoft Outlook. So, if you’re using a different email program, this feature won't be helpful. But if you’re an Outlook user, you might like it.
From the Filter tab, you can manage what addresses to exclude and control the lists of allowed and blocked contacts.
As it only supports Outlook, this feature has a few options specifically for this email program. See them in action:
Norton’s email protection works only with Outlook, but it's quite advanced.
Password Manager
If you use lots of different accounts and passwords, a password manager is helpful. It's a good way to keep your passwords safe. Norton's Password Manager comes with all "360" products (Standard, Deluxe, and Premium). It helps protect against password cracking.
In addition, Norton Password Manager can be used on a desktop or online. You can get to the desktop version by going to Device Security > Internet Security > Password Manager. The online version can be reached from the main user interface or directly from your browser.
The utility isn’t just for passwords — you can store other private info as well. It's divided into tabs for logins, addresses, wallets, notes, and tags. It also has a search function.
The online dashboard has the same options but looks different. I think it's cleaner and easier to use than the desktop one. And it works across platforms.
When I tested the online password manager, I logged into several accounts on Google Chrome. The extension asked if I wanted to save my login info in my Norton Password Manager vault. The next time I logged in, I just had to click the extension icon.
Furthermore, a nice feature that not many password managers have is the password score. The extension checks your passwords and gives them a score based on strength. It also points out duplicate and old passwords.
As a bonus, you also get a simple password generator included in your Norton 360 password manager. This tool creates strong passwords for you, up to 64 characters long.
I was happy with how the password manager worked, especially the way it rates passwords.
Cloud Backup
Norton is the only antivirus brand that offers a cloud backup service. With my Norton 360 subscription, I got 75GB of storage. That's great, considering I also received a top-notch VPN, a tool for parents to control content, and a password manager!
You can only get to the Backup tool from the main menu. From there, you can do things like restoring files and managing the backup.
It was really easy to start a new backup with the Backup window. The Summary tab lets you see what files you're backing up, where, and when.
Aside from saving your data to Norton's cloud server, you can also back up your files on your local hard drive.
Norton has a list of preset file types for backup, making it quick and easy to choose what to back up. I chose the "My Documents" folder but left out the files and emails from that folder.
What’s more, I liked having choices for when to run the backup. Auto backups are suggested — they can save you if you forget to back up your files yourself.
In my Norton review tests, the scheduled backups ran without issues. The program sent my chosen files to the cloud, where I could reach them.
Norton's cloud backup made it easy and quick to send my files to the cloud with different scheduling options.
Norton 360 has several tools to boost your computer's performance. All these tools are found under one tab. Here's what I think about each one.
The next tool is Optimize Disk — a basic utility to defragment your computer. If your computer has a hard disk drive (HDD), Optimize Disk can be useful. Even though it's similar to the defragmenter that comes with Windows, Norton's version automatically organizes your disks if they're more than 10% fragmented.
Since my test laptop only has a solid-state drive (SSD), I couldn't fully test this feature. But, an auto-defragmenter could be useful if you have an HDD.
Furthermore, your operating system creates many files while doing tasks like updates, backups, or when you're using a web browser. Some of these files become useless over time and can slow your computer.
File Cleanup is a tool that can quickly delete these unnecessary Windows and browser files. During my tests, it worked so quickly that I hardly noticed it.
Sadly, you can't choose which files to clean up or schedule cleanups. Plus, it only works with Internet Explorer or Chrome.
The Startup Manager is a tool that's similar to the one that comes with Windows. But Norton's version has a "Delay Start" option, which helps your computer start up quicker.
Also, the Startup Manager shows how much of your computer's resources each item uses. You can choose to turn on or off these items at startup. This worked well when I tested it.
Lastly, the Graphs window is a tool that's not common in many antivirus programs. It's a monitoring tool that lets you see events related to Norton:
It also lets you see how much memory Norton uses compared to your computer's total memory. What I noticed during my tests is that Norton is a light antivirus that doesn't slow down your computer. I'll give more details on this later.
The performance-enhancing tools are effective and helped my computer run smoothly.
Independent Testing Results
AV-Test, a German company that tests security software, gave Norton 360 high marks in their latest tests. They scored it 6/6 (Top Product) in protection, performance, and usability.
AV-Comparatives, another independent group that tests security software, also ranked Norton highly. They awarded Norton's real-world protection a rating of 2/3 stars. The malware protection got 3/3 stars, and the system performance 3/3 stars.
Moreover, SE-Labs gave Norton a top rating — AAA — for 99% protection accuracy.
Overall, Norton received excellent ratings from third-party security software testers.
Norton doesn't use many system resources when it's not active: it uses just 0.1% of CPU power and about 25 MB of RAM. That's really good for an antivirus program as comprehensive as Norton 360.
But during a full scan, Norton uses 70-80% of CPU and about 400 MB of RAM. That's more than most other programs. So, I'd suggest waiting to do heavy-duty tasks until after a Norton full scan is done (unless your computer is pretty powerful). Still, you should only need a full scan once a month, and it only lasts for ten minutes.
Norton doesn't use a lot of resources when it's not active, but it does use more than most during a full scan.
Choosing the Right Norton Product
Norton offers different antivirus products for US users:
Norton Antivirus Plus
Norton 360 Standard Plus
Norton 360 Premium
Norton 360 for Gamers
Norton 360 Deluxe
Norton 360 with LifeLock Select
Norton 360 with LifeLock Advantage
Norton 360 with LifeLock Ultimate Plus
All the options except for Antivirus Plus come with a VPN, parental control, dark web monitoring, and identity protection features powered by LifeLock. This makes them good value, as you get lots of tools in one package.
I'd suggest 360 Premium I for most users, but if you're especially worried about your identity and privacy, LifeLock Select could be a better choice.
In Europe and the rest of the world, Norton's offerings are:
Norton Antivirus Plus
Norton 360 Standard
Norton 360 for Gamers
Norton 360 Deluxe
Norton 360 Premium
All options except for Antivirus Plus include a password manager, VPN, and a camera protection feature. If you live in the UK or Germany, you can also monitor the dark web for traces of your private information with the Deluxe and Premium versions.
If you don't have kids to protect, Norton 360 Standard should work well for you. But if you need a parental control app, more cloud storage, and licenses for up to five devices, you might want to look at other options.
Norton has a range of antivirus software products to meet different users' needs.
Customer Support
Good customer support is crucial when you're choosing antivirus software. To understand Norton’s support, I first looked at their online resources and then contacted them.
Norton's online help section is detailed, but it's not organized in a way that lets me look up specific features. I can only search for keywords related to my issue or click on question mark buttons that relate to specific features.
The Help Center in the user interface offers lots of information — from videos to forums.
There's also a search function in the user interface that you can use to find features. You can get to it using a shortcut (Ctrl+F) or by clicking on the magnifying glass icon.
Furthermore, I contacted Norton’s support to ask them a few questions about the antivirus product. I reached them via the Question icon > Contact Us on their website, but there’s no Contact Us button in the Help window.
The person I spoke with was nice and helpful and answered my questions well. They didn't seem to be a native English speaker, but they still managed to communicate effectively.
Norton has a lot of online resources to help you find answers, and their customer service was useful.
Norton Antivirus Review — Conclusion
Norton is a strong antivirus solution that successfully blocked all the threats I tested. It comes with a reliable VPN, a great parental control app, and an excellent cloud backup service.
Norton does have a few downsides — it doesn't have a file shredder, a file encryptor, or a hardened browser (all of which Bitdefender does have). But it makes up for that with a high-quality scanning engine and excellent detection of zero-day threats. It also provides top-level identity protection features for people in the US, UK, and Germany.
In conclusion, you can't go wrong by choosing Norton. Download it today and experience its protection for yourself.
Norton gives you a powerful scanning engine, quick VPN, excellent parental control, and plenty of cloud backup.
FAQs
Here are the most commonly asked questions about Norton Antivirus and our answers to them.
Is there a free version of Norton antivirus?
No, Norton doesn't offer a free version of its antivirus software like Bitdefender. But, Norton does give free trials of its antivirus products that last 7 or 30 days, depending on where you live. Download Norton antivirus today to see if it suits your needs.
Can Norton be trusted?
Yes, Norton is a reliable antivirus program. I didn't find anything suspicious when I reviewed it, and other organizations that test security software haven't found any issues either.
You can be sure that Norton will keep your device and confidential information safe. Try out Norton 360 today.
Is Norton 360 worth the money?
Norton 360 offers a lot of features at a good price. With a basic 360 subscription, you get a VPN, a password manager, and more, plus it's great at finding and getting rid of threats.
So, I would recommend Norton 360 because you get a lot for your money. You can download a free trial of Norton 360 to test out its features first.
Which Norton is best?
Norton 360 Standard is an excellent choice if you need a VPN subscription, password manager and parental control app, and a generous cloud storage space. If you live in the US, UK, or Germany, I’d recommend Norton 360 Premium for the dark web monitoring feature.
Check out our Norton antivirus review — it will help you make an informed choice when deciding which Norton version you need.
Can I buy Norton instead of renewing it?
No, you can only use the current version of Norton as a subscription service. This means you have to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to use all the features. The yearly subscription is usually the least expensive.
If you’re interested in using Norton, download a free trial today before deciding whether you want to purchase a subscription or not.
Octav Fedor (Cybersecurity Editor)
Octav is a cybersecurity researcher and writer at AntivirusGuide. When he’s not publishing his honest opinions about security software online, he likes to learn about programming, watch astronomy documentaries, and participate in general knowledge competitions.