How do I Know If My Phone has a Virus?
Last Updated on 2 years by Touhid
A phone can be infected by a virus or malware programs. There are different ways that your phone may infect such as downloading third-party apps, click on malicious links or visiting a vulnerable website. In this post, we will give you some special tips on how do I know if my phone has a virus.
There are different ways that a virus can infect on your phone. Here, are the most common ways that a virus may spread on your phone:
- Downloads Software Or Files
- E-Mail Attachments
- Phishing Emails
- External Devices
- Online Advertisements
- Click On Malicious File
- Infected Website
- Copying Data From Infected Computer
- Unsolicited E-Mail
- Social Media Scam Links
How Do I Know If My Phone Has a Virus?
How do I know if my phone has a virus? If your phone is infected by a virus or malware, then you can easily identify it by some symptoms or signs. Phone viruses may spread as different form such as images, programs, software .exe and word documents.
Here are some helpful tips on how do I know if my phone has a virus or malware:
- Increased Storage Memory of Phone
- Phone Apps are crashing
- Displays Pop-ups Ads
- Unwanted Apps installed on phone
- Unexplained Phone calls and Messages
- Poor Performance on Your Phone
- Battery Runs Down
Related article: How to get virus off your Phone?
Related article: How to remove virus from your Phone?
1. Increased Storage Memory of Phone
This is very common symptoms that storage memory of my phone becomes increased when my phone has a virus or malicious software. The virus is trying to run a lot of background process and uses the phone’s data to show advertisements or communicate with the internet. Sometimes you can see that the storage memory of your phone is suddenly full even you have not done something wrong.
Tips
Go to Settings > Data usage to see which apps are using the maximum storage on your phone. If you see anything suspicious apps, then uninstall that app immediately.
Also go to Settings > Apps storage to see which apps have installed on your phone. If you see anything malicious apps, then uninstall that app immediately.
2. Phone Apps Are Crashing
It is very unwanted situation when you want to use your favorite app and it became unresponsive. There are several reasons apps become unresponsive or keep crashing. One of the reasons is your phone has a virus or malicious software. There are many apps on phone that may crash. Here is the list of some popular Apps that crash a lot.
- Messenger
- Google Maps
- YouTube
- Uber
- Skype
- Dropbox
Tips: To fix apps crashing, when your phone has a virus:
- Go to Settings > Tap on Apps
- Find the malicious app that keeps crashing
- Clear cache.
- Tap Force stop.
- Install the app again.
3. Displays Pop-ups Ads
If your phone displays unnecessary advertisements and pop-ups ads which contain inappropriate content, then it is clear that your phone has infected with adware. These malware can steal your data, change the names of files and folders on your phone and also transfer your files from one folder to another.
Tips: To blocked pop-ups add on phone
- Open the Chrome app
- tap the three-dotted menu icon at the top-right
- Settings -> Site settings -> Pop–ups and redirects
- Turn off Pop-ups and redirects
4. Unwanted Apps Installed on Phone
How do I know if my phone has a virus? It is another symptom, that unwanted apps are getting downloaded from unknown sources and automatically installed on your phone without your permission. This type of apps may contain adware’s and brings pop-up advertisements.
5. Unexplained Phone Calls and Messages
If you know that your phone has a virus then it can send spam messages and phone calls to all your contacts without your acknowledgement. If someone receives unsolicited SMS or call from your phone, then it is sure that your phone has a virus or malware.
Tips
You should use install a good anti-virus software on your phone in order remove virus from phone. Once installed antivirus software, it runs silently to protect your phone from virus, malware, spyware, unsafe apps and unwanted threats.
Here is the best antivirus software that you can install:
- Avast Mobile Security
- Bitdefender
- AVG
- McAfee Security & Power Booster
- Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus
- Sophos Free Antivirus and Security
- Norton Security and Antivirus
- Avira Antivirus Security
6. Poor Performance on Your Phone
When your phone is infected by virus or malware then they will use your phone’s resources and spread malicious intent and become extremely slow. There are also some reasons to performance slowdown on your phone, which are as follows:
- Running too many apps or programs
- Not enough storage space
- Operating system is out-of-date
Tips
The best ways to increase the performance of your phone install anti-virus software to scan and clean the virus. You can also do the following tips to increase your phone performance.
- Update your phone
- Remove unwanted apps
- Update the apps
- Disable unnecessary apps
- Turn off Animations
- Clearing cached data
- Turn off Auto-Sync
7. Battery Runs Down
If your battery consumption is increase then it is sure that your phone has a virus. Viruses are programs which may operate as other regular programs so they consume the capacity of your phone battery.
Tips
Go to Settings > Battery section on your phone and see which app is using the maximum power. If you find out the any suspicious or malicious apps on your phone then immediately uninstall that apps.
Related article: What to do if your Phone has been hacked?
Conclusion
Finally, your phone can be infected by a virus or malware without your acknowledgement. If a virus install on your phone then the virus can do anything on your phone. We have discussed the symptoms of how do I know if my phone has a virus. Hope the article will be helpful for you!
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