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Is your iPhone acting up? 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 like Avast One.
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Many types of malware rely on exploiting outdated versions of iOS to infect your iPhone or iPad.
Update your Apple iOS software to get regular security fixes and get rid of viruses on your iPhone.
Here’s how:
Open iOS Settings
Tap General
Choose Software Update
Tap Download and Install
If you think an infected website gave your iPhone a virus, clear your browser data.
Here’s how to get rid of iPhone malware by deleting your iPhone browsing history on Safari:
Open Settings
Tap Safari
Choose Clear History and Website Data
Tap Clear History and Data
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, here’s how to delete it: Long-press the app icon and tap Remove App to get rid of the iPhone app.
Restoring your phone to a backup made before you noticed problems can help get rid of an iPhone malware infection.
Here’s how:
Open iOS Settings
Go to General
Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone
Choose Erase All Content and Settings
Tap Continue
Finally, select Restore from iCloud Backup.
If none of the solutions above work, your final option is a factory reset. Though irreversible, a factory reset can help get rid of iPhone malware.
Here’s how:
Open iOS Settings
Go to General
Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone
Choose Erase All Content and Settings
Tap Continue
Avast One's built-in Web Shield feature lets you browse securely, helping to defend your device from dangerous websites that could infect you with malware. Start protecting your iPhone from viruses and other malware today with Avast One.
Open iOS Settings and scroll to General.
Tap Software Update and ensure Automatic Updates are turned on.
If Automatic Updates are turned off, tap the setting and turn on each toggle. This ensures iOS updates are installed as soon as they're available and keeps malware off your iPhone or iPad.
Jailbreaking removes Apple’s built-in security measures and lets you customize iOS beyond its default options. But jailbreaking leaves 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.
Whether you receive them via email, SMS, or via your favorite secure messaging app, never download or open attachments that you aren’t expecting.
Unknown attachments can be malicious and may infect your phone with malware.
While iOS itself is pretty secure against malware, your iPhone isn’t immune to every threat. Hackers can collect your personal data over unsecured networks, and data breaches can leak your passwords on the dark web.
Avast One fills the gaps that iOS can’t cover by running regular iPhone malware scans and safeguarding your device with extra protection. Secure your iPhone against dangerous websites, data leaks, and more with Avast One.
Knowing how to remove malware from your iPhone is just one step toward iPhone safety. Here are some other common threats to iPhone and iPad:
One of the internet’s most enduring threats are phishing attacks, which lure victims with “bait,” such as spoofed emails. These scams trick victims into revealing their sensitive personal information, or clicking a fraudulent link or attachment that installs malware onto your iPhone.
Phishing’s large-scale cousin, pharming, redirects visitors browsing the web to scam websites that look convincingly like the authentic sites they’re used to. As you log in to the site, your account credentials and passwords can be harvested, or your iPhone can pick up a nasty malware infection.
Webcam security is another area of risk. Most laptops and mobile devices feature front-facing cameras, making them ripe targets for attacks. In early 2019, hackers exploited a security flaw in the macOS app for video conferencing platform Zoom to spy on users via webcams.
