I accidentally downloaded a virus on my Android S10e and now I'm dealing with random pop-ups. I'm not sure what to do next. Should I just go for a hard reset of my phone, or are there better steps to take before doing that?
3 Answers
Here’s what you can try before deciding on a factory reset:
1. **Boot into Safe Mode**: Press and hold the power button, then tap and hold 'Power off' and select 'Safe Mode'. This will disable third-party apps. If the pop-ups go away, it's definitely malware.
2. **Uninstall Suspicious Apps**: Go to Settings, then Apps, and look for any apps you don’t recognize or that you recently downloaded. Get rid of them.
3. **Remove Admin Rights**: Check in 'Settings' -> 'Security' -> 'Device Admin Apps' and revoke access to any suspicious apps.
4. **Run an Antivirus Scan**: Download Malwarebytes or Bitdefender from the Play Store and run a scan to catch anything that could have slipped through.
5. **Factory Reset as Last Resort**: If nothing else works, back up your data and reset your phone under 'Settings' -> 'Reset' -> 'Factory Data Reset'.
It sounds like you might have simply enabled notifications from a site that can show these irritating pop-ups. You can disable them by going to Settings -> Apps -> Google Chrome -> Disable Notifications. If that stops the pop-ups, you’ve found the issue!
Just wondering, where did you download the file? Was it from a web browser or an app store? That can help identify the source of the problem and if it could be malware.
Exactly! Glad you pointed that out.