Malware is malicious software that can sneak onto your phone. Malware commonly includes computer worms, Trojans, ransomware, and spyware. The reason your phone got affected is that you could have downloaded an app infected with malware, ransomware, etc. Most of the apps or content suspected to carry such things are freeware, cheat codes, unauthorized apps, etc.
Malware is known to perform repeated tasks that take up a lot of resources on your phone. The symptoms that could indicate your Android device is infected include the device is suddenly slow, using too much data, serving an overabundance of ads, showing corrupted data, and fast battery drain.
If you find any such infected apps on your phone then immediately get rid of it, before it tries to infect other devices or does more damage. If your Android device is already affected by a virus or malware, here are a step-by-step guide to getting rid of them from your device.
1. Turn off the phone and restart in safe mode.
Switching your phone to safe mode helps to limit the damage the infected app can do. For most Android devices, you can switch to safe mode by holding down the power button for a couple of seconds, then tapping the option to Reboot to safe mode. If you can’t find a safe mode, activate airplane mode instead, to cut your device off from any networks.
2. Uninstall the suspicious app
Go to Settings on your Android device. Click on Apps and choose App Manager to locate the full list of apps. Scroll down and find the infected app. Select the app, and this should bring up options to Uninstall, Force Close or Force Stop. Choose any of the options. This may not completely remove the malware, but it may prevent further damage.
3. Clean-up the junk files with CCleaner
CCleaner is a free app, which will help you clean up your device from junk files. You can download it from Google Play Store. Download and install the app on your device. Then open the app and click on the Analyze button to perform a system scan. Ccleaner will now start scanning your device for junk files. When the analysis is completed, tap to mark the check-boxes next to ‘History’ & ‘Cache’. You may also want to check any other application that you want to delete its cached content. Tap on the Clean button remove all the junk files from your device.
4. Download some malware protection
There are a number of security apps you can download to help protect your phone, scan for viruses, and get rid of any potentially infected software. You can download and install softwares like 360 Security, Avast Antivirus, or AVG Antivirus from the Google Play Store to protect your Android device.
5. Restore as new device
This is the last option, but if all other methods fail, then you can completely wipe your device and start fresh. To do that go to Settings, tap on General Settings. Now tap on Reset and select the option Erase All Content and Settings.