Android phones and tablets seldom get affected by viruses or malwares. Usually, pop ups that indicate your phone has been affected are just antivirus applications wanting you to download them. However, there are chances of viruses entering into your phones when you download apps from outside Google Play App store. Our informative guide will show you how to avoid these threats and remove them in no time!
How Does a Virus Enter Your Android Phone?
Viruses crawl their way into your Android phones and tablets through unwanted applications. Common Android viruses such as Ghost Trojan, Godless, Googlian and Gunpoder came into being this way. Other viruses like Mazar get into your phone by sending you an SMS that urges you to download the Tor Browser. Recently, FalseGuide botnet has been breaking into phones through apps like FIFA Mobile and Pokémon Go. It works as a guiding app that will dupe the user into downloading Malwares.
Steps on How to Remove Virus from Android
- Step 1: Toggle on the Safe Mode option on your phone or tablet. This will ensure that there are no malware laden third party apps running in the background. You can also long press the power button to get power off options on your screen. One of these options will allow you to restart your device in Safe Mode. After that mode has been activated, you will see safe mode written on the bottom left side of your screen.
- Step 2: Open Settings and go to Apps and select the Downloaded tab in that section. If you are unsure of the app that has infected your Android device, go through the list of apps to see if there are any suspicious looking apps you haven’t downloaded.
- Step 3: If you have been able to locate the app you think is responsible for the virus in your phone, uninstall it. However, if you find the app and it has no option to uninstall, then this can be due to the Device administrator status captured by the virus.
- Step 4: In order to fix the above concern, go to Settings> Security>Device Administrators. You will now be able to view a list of apps on your phone or tablet with administrator status. Click on the app you wish to remove and then tap on deactivate on the following screen.
- Step 5: After following the above mentioned steps on your Android device, you can now restart your device to release it from the safe mode. Now that it is working well, you can back up data stored and install antivirus to protect your phone from Android viruses.
Tips to avoid Android viruses & malware
- Avoid downloading apps from anywhere other than Google Play Store
- Always check the permission status of the app. Refrain from downloading an app with admin permissions as they are difficult to delete.
- Do not download cloned apps from developers who are unknown. They often have a malware code in them.
- Make sure that you have installed the latest version of Android to avoid viruses from entering in your phone or tablet.
- Safeguard your Android device by downloading an antivirus on it.