The technology has grown exponentially in the last 20 years. The emergence of smart mobile phones along with the internet have completely revolutionized the world. This inevitably has also facilitated the proliferation of groups of hackers and virus writers , who continue to seek the vulnerability of today’s operating systems.
In the beginning, computers were the ones that suffered the damage from these malware, however, this problem has appeared on Android phones and it seems to have no end. To eliminate these viruses from your smartphone, it has always been recommended to factory reset the phone . However, this is not to the liking of users, since when performing this operation on their phones the data and applications stored on the equipment are automatically deleted.
To avoid this loss of data, everything can be stored by making a backup copy before factory resetting the phone. However, this is a process that very few users carry out as it is a method that can take hours to execute. In addition, this is not highly recommended either, since by making the copy you can transfer the virus to the backup system of the mobile phone and there it will be a bit more complex to eliminate the problem. What can we do then?
How to delete a virus from Android without restoring the factory settings of the device
The main problems that a virus can generate on your mobile device can be the disproportionate consumption of the battery, the overheating of the mobile, even the undue consumption of mobile data without justification. All these characteristics can be signs that your mobile device is infected by a virus or malware.
In this article we take a look at how to remove a virus from your Android phone without having to restore it from the factory, thus avoiding deleting all the data and applications that we previously had stored.
Locate the infected file
A virus or malware on an Android phone can cause widespread problems on your device. To recognize if it is a virus, it is necessary to verify if you have downloaded an application outside the Play Store with suspicious content, or if you have accessed unreliable or disreputable websites.
To check this, you can go to the «Download History» of your default browser and check the latest applications -usually in APK format- or files that have been downloaded. Either with your consent or involuntarily. You may get a surprise.
To finish checking, it is also necessary to enter the browsing history . If everything is normal on your mobile phone, you can start doing routine procedures, such as clearing the phone’s cache * or also restarting the device . If when performing these basic procedures the problems persist, it is necessary to go to the download application and download an antivirus application and scan the device.
Note *: In certain versions of Android you can clear the cache from the “Settings -> Storage” menu. If your mobile does not offer this option, you can also install an app such as “Files from Google” to automatically clean these types of temporary files.
Install a good antivurus
If you managed to do all the previously mentioned procedures, it is time to look for an application that will help solve the problem on your phone. Nowadays, there are many applications to detect and remove viruses on Android phones without the need to factory reset the device. These programs have helped over the years to keep our devices free of viruses and malware.
Among the programs that have stood out the most in the market are Avira and Avast . These applications are among the most used and even offer excellent solutions in their free version. However, if things get a bit complicated, it is advisable to use the paid version offered by these programs, since they allow us to have more complete protection.
Restart your Android in Safe Mode
If when installing and running the antivirus, the scans do not detect anything or fail to eliminate the infection, starting the device in ‘safe mode’ is the next recommended option that we should follow. To activate this option, it is necessary to press the power button until the option to shut down / restart appears, then press and hold on «Shutdown» until the option to «restart safe mode» appears.
When you are in this option, you should go to “Settings” or “Settings”, then go to “Applications” and locate the app that contains the virus. Try to uninstall it, and if you can’t, try launching an antivirus scan. It is a method that usually works quite well and can help you remove malware from your terminal. Keep in mind that when you start Android in safe mode, installed external applications are completely disabled , which usually prevents the virus from working normally.
At the end of the article, it is likely that none of these options that we have shown you will provide a solution to the problems that the mobile may present. That is why, the last option is to factory reset the device, forcing you to delete all the data and applications previously saved on the phone. It is not pleasant, but sometimes it is the only remedy we can use when our device has been infected by a really resistant virus.
