How to Get Rid of a Virus on Your Phone? Helpful Tips

Last Updated on 3 months by Touhid

Virus and malware are the most important concerns for anyone using a phone or other devices. You must protect your phone from viruses and malware. In this article, we’ll provide the best tips on how to get rid of a virus on your phone.

Downloading malicious code or apps is the most common approach for a phone to get infected when downloading and installing a malicious app. If you download an app from an unknown source, the app may contain a virus or malware. When a malicious app is installed in a phone, the app infects the smartphone operating system, such as Android OS or iOS.

How to Get Rid of a Virus on Your Phone?

Once the virus and malware infect your phone then they will get access to your phone and delete your sensitive information. So, you should know how to get rid of a virus on your phone.

Your phone can be virus-infected by other devices. For example, if you want to data transfer from a computer to your phone then you need to connect your phone to a computer. In that case, if the computer is infected with a virus then your phone may be infected with a virus or malware.

A malicious or untrusted website may contain viruses and malicious programs. If you visit that type of website then your phone will infected by a virus. A malicious website is an unsafe website that attempts to install viruses or malware onto your mobile without your permission.

An untrusted website is attempting to install malware in the following ways:

• The site asks you to download software, executable files, images, and videos or run a program.
• It automatically launches a download window.
• When clicking on suspicious hyperlinks.
• The site displays pop-up advertisements and if you click on that ads.

Here are the 7 (seven) tips on how to get rid of a virus on your phone:

1. Use Antivirus Software
2. Uninstall Malicious Apps
3. Factory Data reset your phone
4. Use strong password
5. Keep software updated
6. Don’t click on suspicious links
7. Don’t Browse Unsecured Websites

1. Use Antivirus Software

How to get rid of a virus on your phone? You should install antivirus software to get rid of a virus on your phone. Antivirus software helps to protect your personal information such as photos, videos, personal contacts, and much more. It is very essential to install antivirus software on your phone.

Once installed antivirus software runs silently to protect your phone from cyber security threats such as viruses, malware, spyware, unsafe apps, and unwanted threats. If you want to get rid of a virus on your phone then you should use professional antivirus software. Here are the best antivirus software that you can install on your phone:

1. Avast Mobile Security
2. Bitdefender Antivirus
3. AVG
4. McAfee Security & Power Booster
5. Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus
6. Sophos Free Antivirus and Security
7. Norton Security and Antivirus
8. Avira Antivirus Security

2. Uninstall Malicious Apps

If your phone is infected with a virus or malware then you should know how to remove a virus on your phone. There are several symptoms or signs of virus if your phone is infected with a virus or malware:

A. Symptoms of Virus on Phone

• Your device is too slow.
• Apps take a longer time to load.
• Too many pop-up ads.
• Data usage will increase than normal usage.
• Unexpected phone calls and SMS.

B. Tips to remove malicious apps from Phone

Here are the necessary steps to remove malicious apps from your phone:

• Go to Settings –> Apps or Application Manager (It may differ depending on your mobile phone).
• The “Apps” screen will display a list of installed apps. Scroll down the list until you find the malicious or harmful apps.
• Tap on the malicious app, which you want to uninstall. If the app is currently running then press the Force stop button.
• Then clear the cache and data, and uninstall the malicious app.
• A confirmation dialog will be displayed to uninstall the malicious app, click on “OK” to remove the malicious app from your mobile device.
• Restart your phone to complete the deletion process.
• If you cannot find the malicious app on your phone then you can uninstall the recently installed apps.

Note: Some known malicious apps are: Adult-player, Browser Update, Flash Player, and System Update.

3. Factory Data Reset Your Phone

A factory data reset will erase your all data from the phone and back to default settings. If your phone is infected with a virus or malware or facing a problem and you feel the problem is data related and if you’re unable to properly identify the problem then you need to factory reset your phone to recover those issues.

Tips for Factory Data reset

• Go to Settings > Backup & Reset> Factory Data Reset and then tap Reset Phone.
• Enter your passcode and Erase everything.
• Reboot your phone.
• Then, you can restore your phone’s data.

4. Use Strong Password

Create a strong password for your phone security using letters, numbers, and special characters and change the password regularly.

Tips to create a strong password

• The password should contain uppercase letters (A – Z), lowercase letters (a – z), numbers (0 – 9), and special characters (@, #, $, %, ^, (,), &, *!).
• The password length should be at least 10 characters long.
• Example: P#6^9am@2%D is a strong password and standard password

Learn more about How to create a strong password.

5. Keep Software Updated

It is noted that each updated version will bring better features than the previous one. It will help to improve the user interface, improve security, and remove bugs and vulnerabilities. We recommend updating your phone’s software whenever a new version is available so you can make sure your phone stays in tip-top shape.

Tips for Software Updating phone

• Connect your phone to the Internet or Wi-Fi.
• Go to Settings –> About Phone –> Tap on Software update
• Check for Updates. If an update is available, then will see the update button
• Install and Reboot the Phone.

6. Don’t Click on Suspicious Links

When you browse social media or any other website if you see a suspicious link then don’t click on it. If you click on that link, then you are redirected to a vulnerable website and your sensitive information will be hacked by the attacker also there is a chance to install malware on your phone.

Tips

To protect from viruses on your phone, you will never click on Suspicious Links. Before clicking on a link, you should check first whether the link is Suspicious or not.

7. Don’t Browse Unsecured Websites

Don’t visit unsecured websites because the unsecured websites may contain viruses and malware. So, if you want to get rid of a virus on your phone or protect your computer then avoid browsing unsecured websites.

Tips

A trusted website is secure by SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate. In URL, it will start with https:// such as https://www.google.com.

Read more about Does the iPhone Get Viruses?

Read more about How Do I Know If My Phone Has a Virus?

Conclusion

Finally, you must install antivirus software to remove viruses on your phone. You should follow the above tips to protect your phone from viruses and malware. Hope the article How to get rid of a virus on your phone will be helpful for you who want to remove a virus on your phone!!!