How to Get Rid of Viruses on iPhone

iPhones are relatively safer from viruses due to Apple’s secure ecosystem, also known as the walled garden. However, in rare scenarios, even an iPhone can get infected. 

The reason for viruses on your phone can be unauthorized web links, random apps, and such. Usually, iPhones that were jailbroken tend to be more prone to such threats. Thankfully, there are easy ways to eliminate unwanted malware on your iPhone. 

How to Check iPhone for Viruses or Malware?

If your iPhone has a virus, there’ll be abnormal activities. More specifically, if your iPhone is showing any of the following signs, you can confirm that there’s a virus. 

How to Get Rid of Viruses on iPhone? 

One of the first things you can try before trying other fixes is restarting your iPhone. This simple trick can temporarily freeze or stop the virus. Simply hold the power button and the volume up button for a while and slide to turn off your phone. 

Once your iPhone is back on, you can then follow these solutions: 

Delete History/Website Data 

Various websites are one of the most common ways viruses can get into your phone. So, your browser cache files that include history, cookies, searches, and such can contain viruses. So, the ideal solution here is to clean up all such files. Here’s how you can reset history and data on Safari: 

1. From the Settings app, tap on Safari. 
2. Scroll down and tap once on Clear History and Website Data. 
   
3. Tap again to confirm. 
   

If you often use Chrome as your default browser, here’s how you can clear your browsing history and data. 

1. Open Chrome and tap once on the three dots in the bottom-right corner.
    
2. Go to Settings from the list. 
3. You’ll see a new page with many options. Go to Privacy. 
4. Select Clear Browsing Data.
    
5. You can select the time range and things you want to delete, like history, cookies, and cached images, on this page.
   
6. Set your preferences and tap on Clear Browsing Data at the bottom. 

Delete Unfamiliar Apps 

Various hackers can make a way through your phone using such apps. When you open them, there can be many pop-up options with various links, which can bring viruses to your phone. 

Go through the list of apps on your phone and check if there are new and unfamiliar ones. Like certain apps have a strange name, logo and the security-related names, like Password, Face Lock, and such. Some looks like games as well. If you are suspicious of such apps, delete them right away. 

Restore iPhone Backup

Have you been tracking the timeline of when your phone started behaving strangely? If yes, you might have an idea to restore the backup from a certain date. Restoring your backup data will revert the settings and files to the previous timelines. It will help get rid of the viruses on your phone.

Simply go to Settings and go to Restore Backup. You can choose backup data from a specific date. Then, select Restore.

However, please note that you might lose some data, like music, apps, photos, and such. So, it’s best to save this trick for last. 

Factory Reset Your iPhone

If no solutions are helping, the final foolproof solution is to factory reset your iPhone. This will completely remove all files and make your phone brand new again. It will eliminate all kinds of viruses present in your phone. Here’s how you can factory reset an iPhone. 

1. Go to Settings > General. 
2. Scroll down and tap on Transfer or Reset iPhone.
3. On the new page, tap on Erase All Content and Settings. 
   
4. Then, tap on Continue and Erase. 

Although this may sound intimidating at first, there’s little to no risk involved. After the reset, you can always restore your data and continue using your phone like before. 

Additionally, you can always reinstall your favorite apps and continue your progress by logging in with your email. 

How to Protect My iPhone From Viruses?

Once you’ve applied the methods to remove the virus from your phone, there’s a high chance it will never come back. This is because Apple’s ecosystem is very secure and is one of its major selling points. Especially, your phone has not been jailbroken, constant virus attacks are nearly impossible. 

Nevertheless, there are still several ways you can keep your iPhone more secure from uninvited viruses.