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Is your iPhone hot, buggy, or unresponsive? Is your battery constantly depleted? It might be a malware infection. We’ll show you how to remove viruses on an iPhone and iPad, and how to help protect against future iOS malware attacks with specialized iOS security software.
Sometimes the easiest way to remove an iPhone virus or stop malicious activity is to restart your phone.
Here’s how:
Hold the power button.
Move the slider to the right and wait a few seconds.
Press the power button again to restart your iPhone.
Many types of malware exploit outdated versions of iOS to infect your iPhone or iPad.
Update your Apple iOS software as soon as updates are available. Or, consider automatic updates to push security fixes directly to your device and help get rid of viruses on your iPhone.
Here’s how:
Open iOS Settings.
Tap General.
Choose Software Update.
Tap Download and Install.
Unfamiliar apps on your iPhone could be malicious, so removing them might help get rid of an iPhone virus. If you find a strange app, delete it immediately.
Here’s how:
Long-press the app icon.
Tap Remove App.
Confirm by tapping Delete App.
If you think an infected website gave your iPhone a virus, try clearing your browser data. Deleting your Safari history completely can also help you get rid of iPhone malware hiding in your browser data.
Here’s how:
Open Settings.
Tap Safari.
Choose Clear History and Website Data.
Tap Clear History and Data.
Restoring your phone to a backup made before you noticed problems can help get rid of an iPhone malware infection. You can do this via iCloud.
Here’s how:
Open iOS Settings.
Go to General.
Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Choose Erase All Content and Settings.
Tap Continue.
Select Restore from iCloud Backup.
If other solutions fail, consider a full factory reset to remove a virus from your iPhone. Though irreversible, it can effectively eliminate malware by erasing all data and settings, ensuring a clean slate.
After the reset, you can restore your iOS via backup again. But, to avoid reinstalling a potentially malicious app, we suggest choosing an earlier backup version than you were previously using.
Here’s how:
Open iOS Settings.
Go to General.
Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Choose Erase All Content and Settings.
Tap Continue.
Avast Mobile Security helps you browse in peace, defending your device from dangerous websites and downloads that could infect it with malware. It can also check your Wi-Fi and scan the network for intruders, vulnerabilities, and other online threats. Start protecting your iPhone right now from viruses, malware, and other scams.
Open Settings, tap General, and select Software Update.
If Automatic Updates are off, tap the setting and turn on each toggle.
This ensures iOS updates are installed as soon as they're available and helps keep malware off your iPhone or iPad.
Jailbreaking lets you customize iOS beyond its default options, but it also removes Apple’s built-in security measures, which can leave you vulnerable to malware and phone hacking.
Never jailbreak your phone unless you’re confident in what you’re doing — and even then, be very careful.
To help prevent viruses on your iPhone, only download apps from the official App Store, and avoid apps that have vague descriptions, poor reviews, or unknown developers. Always chat via secure messaging app with end-to-end encryption to help protect your data.
Regularly review your phone for unknown apps, too. Apps popping up on your phone that you didn’t install yourself can be a sign of an iPhone virus or adware.
Hackers love using phishing emails or texts to sneak malware onto your Apple device. Don’t open links that look “off” — like ones with strange spellings, unfamiliar domains, or from unexpected senders.
If you get a message or pop-up warning you about an iPhone virus, it’s likely a scam. iPhones don’t send virus notifications, as Apple doesn’t have a built-in virus warning system. Ignore these fake virus alerts.
