As with the Windows edition, your path to Bitdefender protection starts with the Bitdefender Central dashboard online. Create or log into your account, activate your license key, and you’re ready. You can download the app or send a link in an email to protect another device. If you’re new to Bitdefender, a simple tour takes you through essential features.
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Do follow the recommendations displayed in the AutoPilot banner across the top. Among other tasks, you’ll enable ransomware remediation and protection for your Time Machine backups. You’ll also want to protect your browsers by enabling the Traffic Light browser extension, which identifies dangerous links in search results, and the Anti-tracker feature, which prevents advertisers from profiling you on the web.
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The main window of the macOS antivirus closely matches that of Bitdefender Antivirus Plus on Windows. You see a simple menu on the left and the AutoPilot recommendations banner at the top. Below are six button panels: Chat Protection, Quick Scan, System Scan, Total Protection, Safe Files, and Web Protection. The Windows edition has six buttons: Quick Scan, System Scan, Vulnerability Scan, VPN, Safepay, and Add a quick action. That last one lets you configure the buttons to launch the security features you use most.
Sharp-eyed readers may notice some differences since my last review. The Total Protection button previously had the label Antivirus for Mac. More importantly, Chat Protection is completely new, so new that the Windows edition doesn’t yet include the feature. I’ll discuss Chat Protection below.
Where the Windows edition’s menu links to pages for Protection, Privacy, and Utilities, the macOS version just has Protection and Privacy. The Privacy page is fully devoted to the VPN and Anti-tracker components (more about them later).
You can launch a quick, full, or custom scan from the Protection page. This is also where you check your quarantined files and manage browser extensions. Tabs across the top let you manage Antivirus (the default), Chat Protection, Web Protection, and Anti-Ransomware.
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As with the Windows edition, Bitdefender on the Mac defaults to running in Autopilot mode, making all necessary security decisions without annoying the user with unnecessary questions. Also, as on Windows, AutoPilot goes beyond mere decision-making. It uses a panel in the main window to display recommendations, helping you make the most of all available features.
