How to remove virus from android phone

Modern smartphones without the Internet turn into a regular dialer: they need access to the network all the time. Toys, instant messengers – almost all programs want to be updated and receive data right here and now. And we trust them unconditionally: we give access to the contact book and personal wallet, link the card and let some game “feed” from it. But great opportunities require great responsibility. The more programs you put on your phone and the more you allow them, the greater the chance of picking up an unpleasant sore and then you will have to wonder how to remove a virus from your phone.

A spyware or rogue app can steal your personal information, slow down your device, or steal your internet. At the same time, the malicious program is able to disguise itself as smart and useful, and it is difficult to distinguish it from a non-professional eye. Perhaps suspicion can only cause a too wide list of Wishlist during installation. Agree, it is strange if the calculator suddenly needed to read your contact book? Most likely, this is already a virus on the phone – and it will not be so easy to deal with it on an android device.

How to understand that there is a virus in the phone

Yes, malware is dangerous not only for a computer, but also for a smartphone. Especially now, with the development of technology, attackers simply dream of sneaking closer to a device that has all your personal and payment data. So, what should alert you and make you think about how to remove a virus from your phone:

• There are too many ads on the phone. Banners fly out from everywhere, appear on the desktop, notifications pop up even when you are not using your phone.
• The phone began to discharge quickly, it gets very hot, even when you do not use it. Perhaps just at this time he is participating in a DDOS attack or mining bitcoins for someone.
• Applications began to work incorrectly. They close without asking (although this can also be due to a lack of RAM), errors appear while the application is running.
• After installing a new application, even if downloaded from the official store, errors began to appear, the phone began to fail, turn off, warm up.
• Corrupted files appeared on the card or in the phone’s memory, photos, audio files cannot be opened. Strange folders appear on the phone, which it is not clear what they belong to.
• The smartphone has become too independent and now it installs what it wants without your participation.
• Communication costs have increased, the amount of consumed Internet traffic, data transfer and WI-FI are turned on automatically. This is already a very good reason to think about how to remove a virus from an Android phone and not omit further ruin.

How viruses get on the phone

There are three most common groups of “bad programs”.

• First is pop-up bannerswhich cannot be turned off. They greatly complicate the user’s work and it is difficult to get rid of them, most often you have to return to the factory settings and delete all the contents of the phone.
• Second – spyware, which record everything the phone user does and sends to attackers. Tracking down such activity is easy by the increased volume of transmitted traffic. Such viruses can steal your card details, important passwords – and as a result, you will lose money.
• Trojans and worms, settled in your mobile phone, are also unpleasant guests. They rummage through the back alleys of the vault and transfer files to the network – for example, intimate photos, your personal correspondence. In addition, they can simply harm by killing the phone, encrypting data, deleting important files. For deliverance, they can demand money.

A virus gets on an Android phone along with programs that you can easily download from official stores. These can be useful calendars and planners, games and programs that count, for example, your diet and calories. They may contain malicious code or be completely written to steal data from your phone.

The virus can also be picked up by opening letters from unknown numbers, following links from them, downloading files sent in this way or by “left” users of social networks. Even if you then delete the download, the program may have time to run on your phone. A flash drive that you connected to your computer or received from someone you know may also be infected.

Step-by-step instructions for removing viruses

If you encounter the problems described above, be prepared to rescue your phone. We will tell you how to remove a virus from your phone in various ways.

1. Let’s start with the simplest. If you have not done this before, install one of the antivirus programs on your device and run a scan. There are free and paid antiviruses, use the products of well-known manufacturers. Follow the instructions of the antivirus and delete those files that it indicates as suspicious. Delete the downloaded antivirus, download another one and check again.
2. Unfortunately, this option does not always help. If viruses are already in the phone, they can prevent the antivirus from working properly. Try to minimize the harm that the virus causes to your Android device and your wallet: turn on the “Airplane” mode so that programs do not have access to the Internet. Then check the application list. If among them there are those that are unknown to you, or recently installed, delete them. You can also see in the phone’s “Application Manager” which of them work more actively than others and spend the most traffic. You can delete them directly from the root folder on the main drive – when connected to a computer. Find the file with the name of the program and the apk extension, delete it.
3. You can quickly remove a virus from an Android phone if you find a malicious program in the list of “administrators” and take away its rights. To do this, go to the “Settings” menu, select the “Security” tab and find the sub-item with application rights. Also, this menu can be located in the Applications folder. Check what permissions your installed applications have and restrict them if necessary. In any case, there is no need to trust third-party programs with all your secrets.
4. If you cannot uninstall a program that you think is suspicious, go to safe mode. To do this, turn off the phone, and turn it on, hold down the volume down button. In this mode, only system programs are launched and you will have the opportunity to remove third-party applications or disable their rights.
5. You can remove the virus through your computer: if you have antivirus programs installed on your desktop, then they are often stronger and more advanced than mobile versions. So the phone can be checked for viruses through a PC. To do this, you need to connect the android device to a computer or laptop in the “Debugging via USB” mode. To do this, go to the “Settings” menu, find the “For Developers” sub-item there and enable this feature. Then this is what you need to select in the menu that appears when you connect the phone with a cable. The smartphone will open as an additional disk or flash drive, scan it completely with an antivirus. Remove all found threats.
6. The most trouble-free way is to roll back to the factory settings. To make it painless, make it a rule to back up your smartphone once a week – two weeks. To return to the factory settings, go to the “Settings” menu of the phone, select the “System” item there and go to the “Reset” item. There you can already select the item “Restore to factory settings”. Remember that this procedure will erase all information from your phone, delete all contacts, photos, applications. You can then restore them from a backup.
7. If a virus has settled on your phone that does not allow you to enter the menu, reset the phone through the computer. Just be sure to enable the latest antivirus when you connect your Android device to your PC. After connecting the USB cable, turn on the phone and select the item: reset to factory settings. In this case, the banner covering the screen will not prevent you from doing so.

What to do to avoid getting a virus on your Android phone

1. Never download files sent by unknown senders to your phone. Do not click on links in such emails.
2. Read reviews of apps you’re about to install. Apps on Google Play are not 100% pre-screened. The virus can be in both paid and free applications. If the game or useful program you are about to download has no reviews or a low rating, don’t risk it.
3. Perform an antivirus scan once a week. Control it manually – the virus can turn off the automatic scan that you have planned in advance.
4. Do not connect your phone to other people’s smartphones and computers.
5. Carefully use public Internet networks, do not download or transfer important data when working in them.
6. Install the latest security updates for the system itself and all applications.
7. Do not install unofficial firmware.
8. Disable the ability to receive MMS – the trouble with this service is that a picture or file can start downloading automatically.