How to remove a virus from an Android phone

In this article, we will analyze how to remove a virus from a phone running on the Android operating system. Mobile devices are becoming more complex and functional every year, users use smartphones not only for communication, like a regular phone, but also for work or entertainment.

The phone contains various information and user data that attackers want to access. They do not disdain anything, even petty theft, debiting money from a linked card. Adware is especially prevalent on Android devices.

Content:

1. How to know if your Android phone is infected with viruses
2. How can a virus get into a phone
3. Removing suspicious or unknown programs
4. How to change app permissions for Device Administrators
5. Changing browser settings
6. How to remove virus on android phone with antivirus
7. How to remove a virus on Android through a computer
8. How to remove a virus from an Android phone by resetting the device
9. Article Conclusions

Therefore, the amount of malware on Android mobile devices is growing exponentially. In addition to specially created malicious applications, a huge amount of legal software requires a variety of rights from the phone user, sometimes not at all necessary for the normal operation of applications.

By obtaining rights, the application can access contacts, install a spyware module, steal, and then send information to remote servers, which can then be monetized. The presence of viruses on the phone often gives out strange behavior of some applications or the mobile device itself.

Phone owners have questions about how to remove a virus from Android. The user needs to find the virus in the phone and remove it from the device.

In this article, we will look at several ways to remove malware from mobile devices running on the Android operating system.

How to know if your Android phone is infected with viruses

The user needs to understand if there are viruses on his mobile device. To determine the symptoms, you need to check the gadget for the following signs:

• The presence of pop-up ads when unlocking the phone or on the desktop.
• The appearance of intrusive ads in the browser and applications.
• Fast discharge of the phone, even when the device is idle.
• Uncharacteristic operation of applications, the occurrence of errors.
• Glitches, self-shutdown of the smartphone.
• The appearance in the memory of the device of incomprehensible folders and corrupted files.
• Self-installation of applications by phone, self-loading of files.
• Receive frequent SMS messages about paid subscriptions.
• Write-off of funds from the account for services not connected by you.
• A sharp increase in the volume of transmitted traffic, moreover, mobile Internet or Wi-Fi turn on independently.

All these signs should alert the user. You need to make sure what caused the problems in the operation of the mobile device.

The presence of advertising banners in places where they should not be, for example, on the desktop background, indicates that the phone has an advertising virus that launches banners at the wrong time and in the wrong places.

Rapid battery drain may indicate that your phone is being surreptitiously mined, or that your smartphone is participating in a DDoS attack. An attacker is using your phone to mine bitcoins, or has added your smartphone to their network, which is used to attack other devices.

Self-decision-making by the phone is a serious reason to check the settings of the device.

Phones are attacked by three main types of viruses:

• Advertising banners that cannot be closed or disabled.
• Spy modules that record all user actions and send this information to attackers.
• Trojans and worms that delete or encrypt files on your phone and transmit data from your device to the Internet.

The user experiences inconvenience, sometimes the phone may even fail. The saddest thing is that malware can steal money, get access to your card information or your email and social media accounts.

Based on the above, it makes sense to check the phone settings, remove dubious applications, and scan for viruses on the device.

How can a virus get into a phone

The most common way: installing applications on the phone that have hidden functions. Some users install applications from APK files on their own, bypassing official channels. Often these can be paid programs offered for free installation. Such applications can be modified and spread viruses or perform spying functions.

It is recommended to install programs on your Android device from the official Google Play store. But even there there are malicious applications. Lately, Google has been regularly cleaning its Google Play Store of dubious apps.

A virus can enter a mobile phone via a USB flash drive after connecting between devices. Do not connect your smartphone to other people’s computers or phones.

When downloading files to your phone, or following links on the Internet, or opening links in emails from unknown recipients, there is a chance of picking up a virus on your mobile device.

Beware of downloading or transmitting data on public networks, due to the increased risk of becoming a victim of intruders.

Unofficial firmware also poses a danger, because it is not known what was modified there.

Regularly install security updates for the system and applications on your device. Periodically check your mobile phone for viruses.

Removing suspicious or unknown programs

First, let’s look at how to remove a virus from a phone manually. The problem can be solved after removing the malware from the device.

Start by checking the apps installed on your phone. Some applications are pre-installed and are part of the Android operating system. Other applications you installed yourself, or they were installed hidden from you.

If you have a problem with debiting money, turn on Airplane Mode on your smartphone to block applications from accessing the Internet. Then go through the list of programs and remove unknown or unnecessary applications. It is possible that after this, problems with the phone will disappear.

Using the example of “clean” Android 9 Pie, the settings will look like this:

1. Enter your phone settings, select “Apps & notifications” and then “Show all apps”.
2. Open the app. On the “About the application” page, you can immediately remove a suspicious or unnecessary application. To do this, click on the “Delete” button.
3. If you need the program on your phone, click on the “Permissions” option to see the permissions of this application. Here you can control the application’s access to phone functions. Disable settings you don’t think you should allow this app to work with.

When checking programs, follow these tips:

• If the application is unfamiliar to you, find information about the program on the Internet. See what they say about this program.
• Pay attention to app permissions, especially non-native features. It is strange when, for example, the Flashlight program conditionally requires access to contacts or a microphone. This is very suspicious.
• Check application traffic. See which programs consume the most traffic.

You can view the traffic consumed by applications in this way:

1. In the settings, open “Network and Internet”, open the “Data transfer” option.
2. Click on the “Application Traffic” option. Here you can select a time period and see how much traffic was consumed by specific applications.

If among the programs there are unknown applications or programs that should not access the Internet, there is a reason to carefully check for suspicious activity on the network.

In the smartphone settings in the “Special access” parameter, the user can disable various options for specific programs: installing unknown applications, changing system settings, accessing notifications, accessing usage history, etc.

If it’s just an ad virus, you can use the help of mobile ad blockers. For example, the AdGuard program (paid) protects the device from annoying ads, saves traffic, and improves the overall level of phone security.

In some cases, viruses can block the removal of malicious applications from the phone. In this case, you need to enter Safe Mode in the Android operating system. Enter the device settings, and then remove the problematic application.

You may also be interested in:

• Android Safe Mode: How to Enable or Disable
• How to Clear Cache on Android

How to change app permissions for Device Administrators

Some applications may run on a phone with device administrator rights. You need to check which applications have elevated rights:

1. From the settings, go to “Security and location”, click on “Advanced”.
2. Check out apps that have device administrator rights.
3. If there are incomprehensible programs here, remove elevated rights from these programs by moving the slider to the “Disabled” position.

It makes sense to remove such a program from the phone, because it has received elevated rights to manage the phone for a reason.

Changing browser settings

Viruses often take control of browser settings. Therefore, the user needs to check the settings of the mobile browser, and, if necessary, disable some options.

For example, change the search engine, clear history, delete cookies and site data, etc.

How to remove virus on android phone with antivirus

The next step: run a scan of the mobile device using a specialized anti-virus program. This step is logical and in many cases will help solve problems that have arisen on the phone.

A large number of antivirus programs have been created for Android. Unfortunately, most of this software is outright junk. At best, these crafts will create an additional load on the phone and do no harm.

You should use products from time-tested well-known manufacturers that have long proven themselves to work on computers that have mobile versions. You can use well-known antiviruses: Malwarebytes, Zemana, Kaspersky, Dr.Web, Avast, ESET, Norton, etc.

Install an antivirus on your phone, and then run a scan. After finding viruses, remove them from your phone. In severe cases, scan your smartphone with several antivirus programs in turn to get a positive result.

How to remove a virus on Android through a computer

In some cases, it is not possible to install a mobile antivirus due to lack of free space on the device. There is no time or opportunity to deal with files on the phone.

Therefore, you can try to remove the virus on Android from your computer. You need to connect your phone with a cable to a PC in “USB debugging” mode . On the computer, the phone will appear as a mapped drive. Check the device with an antivirus from a computer.

How to remove a virus from an Android phone by resetting the device

If all else fails, there is one more option left: factory reset your phone. When resetting the settings, the system will be reinstalled, therefore the viruses will be removed.

Attention! After this operation, all data, settings and applications will be deleted from the mobile device, and the phone will return to its original state to factory settings. You will again have to install the necessary applications, install updates, register for services, etc.

Follow these steps:

1. Enter “Settings”, open the “System” section.
2. Click on Advanced, select Reset.
3. The Reset window has three options:

• Reset network settings — Reset network settings.
• Reset settings – Reset application settings.
• Reset settings – reset the device.

1. Click on “Reset Settings”.
2. In the “Erase all data (factory reset)” window that opens, read the information, and then click on the “Reset phone settings” button.

1. The device will reboot. The process of resetting the phone takes some time.

Make sure that the battery on your phone has enough power to complete this operation.

Article Conclusions

Some phones get viruses that have a negative impact on the device, spying or stealing data and money. To search for and remove malicious software from your phone, you can try to remove suspicious applications yourself, change device settings, use the help of an antivirus, or use a radical method: resetting your smartphone to factory settings.