Why does my antivirus warn?

Last updated: 29 October 2026

In short: it is a false alarm. Accelerate Notebook is a new program from a small, independent developer. Windows and antivirus programs are careful with programs they have not seen many times before, and they judge a program by how it is built and what it does, not by what it really is. A few of the things Accelerate Notebook does to protect your notes look, to them, like things harmful programs do.

What the app really does, recorded on an ordinary computer.

Why it happens

• It is new. Windows (the “Windows protected your PC” screen) and antivirus programs trust files that many people have already run safely. Every new version of any program starts with no such history, so the first people to download it may see a warning. It fades as more people use it. “Unknown publisher” means Windows does not know us yet, not that it found anything wrong.
• How it is packed. To protect the program from being copied, the Windows download is one sealed file that unpacks the app on your computer the first time you open it. Some antivirus programs treat any file that unpacks another program as suspicious, whatever that program is.
• What it does for your notes. Your notes and attachments are encrypted with your password, and a sync or a restore updates them in one go. Tools that watch for ransomware look for files like these being written, so an over-careful one may step in. The app now changes only the files that really changed, which makes this much rarer.
• Android and apps from outside Google Play. Android asks before it installs any app that does not come from Google Play, whoever made it. That is a question about where the file came from, not something found in the app.

Is it safe?

• Yes, it is safe. On Windows it is portable: there is nothing to install, you download one file and run it.
• No tracking, no telemetry and no ads, in the free app and in Premium alike.
• The app contacts our servers only for the few things our privacy policy lists, and one switch cuts it off the internet completely.
• Only download it from this website (or from Google Play, once it is there). A copy from anywhere else is not ours.

How to open it anyway

1. “Windows protected your PC” (SmartScreen): click More info, then Run anyway.
2. Your antivirus blocks it, or moved it away (quarantine): open your antivirus, find its quarantine (it may be called Quarantine, Virus Chest or Protection history) and restore Accelerate Notebook. Then add it to the exclusions (allowed apps) so it is not stopped again (only ever for a copy you downloaded from this website). Add the file you downloaded, and the folder the app unpacks itself into the first time it opens: %LOCALAPPDATA%\AccelerateNotebookFree for the free edition, %LOCALAPPDATA%\AccelerateNotebook for Premium. Every antivirus names these places a little differently. In Microsoft Defender (Windows Security, built into Windows):
   • Restore: Virus & threat protection → Protection history, pick the item, then Actions → Restore.
   • Exclusions: Virus & threat protection → Manage settings → Add or remove exclusions → Add an exclusion. Choose File and pick the download, then Folder and paste the app’s folder from above.
3. Android asks about unknown sources: when you open the APK, Android says your browser or file manager is not allowed to install apps. Tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source, go back and tap Install. If Google Play Protect warns about an app it has not seen before, choose to install anyway (the button may be under More details).
4. It stopped the app during a sync: your notebook is not lost. The app offers a backup before every sync; if you kept one, open the app and choose Menu → Restore from backup… Then add the app to your antivirus exclusions and sync again.

Tell us

If your antivirus warns, email support@acceleratesoftwares.com with the name of the antivirus and the exact message. We report false alarms to the antivirus makers so they are fixed for everyone. Most antivirus makers also have a “report a false positive” form of their own.