CPU Usage - What is Avast doing in the background?

[REDACTED]

I have Avast Free Antivirus and it is using a constant 30% CPU. However, when I open the UI, there is no indication that it is performing any scans. I am trying to run some diagnostics on my system and I need Avast to stop using so much CPU, but I can't figure out how. The only option I see is to temporarily disable shields, but that does nothing. So I have 2 questions:

• What is Avast doing?
• How do I make it stop or defer its operations?

I'm a little frustrated. If an application is using significant CPU time, I should at least be able to see what it is using it for.

[Pondus]

  What is Avast doing? 

Monitoring evrything that goes on in your computer

[REDACTED]

  What is Avast doing? 

Monitoring evrything that goes on in your computer

Thanks for answering. I understand that Avast is constantly monitoring, but in the past it has not used this much CPU. 30% is a lot (especially if I've disabled shields) and seems inefficient. I also still need to bring this usage down to run my diagnostics.

[Asyn]

Remove Avast Cleanup and reboot. Better now..?
-> https://support.avast.com/article/96/ (Add/Remove components)

[REDACTED]

Remove Avast Cleanup and reboot. Better now..?
-> https://support.avast.com/article/96/ (Add/Remove components)

So far it looks like that's done the trick! I just rebooted and usage is < 1%. Thank you!

[Asyn]

You're welcome.