Best Spyware Detectors | 10 Tools To Remove Spyware on Your Device

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The best spyware removal tools guard your devices against hidden spyware, viruses, ransomware, malware, and other online security threats. You need a top spyware detection app to browse freely through the internet without compromising your privacy and sensitive data.

Finding the best spyware detectors in a pool of quality antivirus solutions is a tough ask. In this guide, we’ve reviewed the best software for spyware detection and removal based on criteria such as real-time protection, cost, compatibility, customer support, and others. Read on to see how top tools like TotalAV, McAfee, and Norton perform against others on the list.

The Best Spyware Detectors in 2023 | Quick Answer

TotalAV stood out as the #1 PC and cell phone spyware detection and removal tool, thanks to its features like excellent malware protection, easy-to-use interface, Rare File alert, and 30-day money-back guarantee. Here’s how it performs against others in the industry:

1. TotalAV — Overall, The Best Spyware Detector & Removal Software. Put It To The Test With A 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
2. Norton — Leading Spy App Detector With The Longest Money-Back Guarantee of 60 Days. See If It’s For You With a 7-Day Free Trial and a 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
3. Nord Threat Protection — A Popular Antivirus With a Host of Unique Features. Put It To The Test Now With a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
4. Surfshark — Quality Antivirus Software and Spy App Detector With Zero Renewal Hikes. Offers a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
5. McAfee — The Best Spyware Detector For Assistance From In-House Experts. Try It Now With a 30-Day Free Trial and a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
6. Avast — The Best Free Spy App Detector. Take It For a Spin With a Free Plan or a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee For Paid Plans.
7. Kaspersky — The Best Spyware Infection Detector For Small, Medium & Large Businesses. Try It Risk-Free Now With a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
8. Trendmicro — A Free Cell Phone Spy Software For All Devices On Your Home Network. Try It Now With a Free Plan.
9. Intego — Popular Spyware Detector with Specialized Solutions for Windows and Mac. Put It To The Test With a 30-Day Free Trial and a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
10. Avira — A Free & Lightweight Software to Check For Spyware. Has a Free Plan + a 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee on Paid Plans.

The Best Spy App Removal Tools in 2023 | In-Depth Reviews

Here, we dive deep into the details of our top picks for the best spy app detector software, along with their top features and pros and cons. Ready?

1. TotalAV — Overall, The Best Spyware Detector & Removal Software

TotalAV boasts a solid combination of diverse features and security protocols for 360-degree protection against all online and offline threats, including hidden spyware and Trojans. No wonder it has been able to amass a user base of over 30 million.

TotalAV Pro’s real-time protection, powered by its intuitive spyware detection & removal tool, will detect and remove any spyware that might have snuck into your device either via a malicious website or corrupted downloaded. Your system will be constantly combed for spyware infection to avoid fatal blows later on.

Despite being intuitive, TotalAV gives you ample control over a scan. For example, with its Rare File Alert feature, anytime an uncommon file is found during a scan, like a phishing website launcher or encrypted spyware, you’ll be notified and asked for permission for further analysis of such uncommon files.

This step for additional security couples with TotalAV’s advanced cloud scanning to ensure that you have complete protection from zero-day attacks. Then there’s TotalAV’s WebShield that will protect your internet activity through and through — it’ll block any harmful website or malicious link before it can spy/collect sensitive data on your device.

Besides being a highly-awarded antivirus solution in 2023 — winner of the Top Product, VB100, Deceptor Fighter, and 3* Malware Protection, TotalAV also tags along with one of the best VPN services, making it our top pick for protection against spyware, ransomware, viruses, or any third-party intruders.

Pricing:

TotalAV’s Antivirus Pro package at just $29/year (renews at $119/year after the first year) for 3 devices is one of the best value-for-money deals in the entire industry.

For more devices and even better internet security, we recommend TotalAV’s Total Security deal, which is its Antivirus + Internet Security package and comes with a VPN too. Enjoy all that TotalAV has to offer risk-free with a money-back guarantee of 30 days. If you don’t like it, get a full refund.

2. Norton — Leading Spy App Detector With The Longest Money-Back Guarantee of 60 Days

Norton commands a user base of over 50 million, and for good reason. Not only does it provide the longest money-back guarantee in the industry, but it’s also one of the few spyware detectors to come with a firewall that monitors both the network traffic that’s received and sent from your device.

Norton’s Smart Firewall ensures that your device and all the personal data and files in it remain far away from the reach of any malicious user trying to install any spyware on it.

Like McAfee, Norton too, has in-house agents that take the lead from you and detect and remove any spyware from your device that you couldn’t deal with yourself.

With Norton, you’ll be safe from any malicious links while browsing the internet. Norton makes sure of it by highlighting all the risky links on your Facebook and Twitter feeds and even web-based emails.

Another feature worth mentioning is Norton’s vulnerability assessment. Norton’s smart AI goes to work here to rule out any possibility of a potential attack on your device by repairing issues that could’ve been gateways to spyware, such as a weak password, malicious apps, or security breaches in your system software.

Plus, you don’t have to manually back up your files — Norton will do it automatically, giving you one less thing to worry about.

Pricing:

At just $19.99 for the first year (renews at $59.99), Norton’s Antivirus Plus plan is one of the most affordably priced spy app removal services.

Although the Antivirus Plus plan covers only a single device, Norton’s high-end plans can protect as many as 5 devices and also tag along with premium features, including Dark Web Monitoring and Parental Control. The best premium deal is Norton’s Select + LifeLock plan which starts at $99.99 for the first year or $9.99 for the first month.

If a 7-day free trial wasn’t enough, Norton impresses one and all with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Try it today and see if it’s for you. If it’s not, get a full refund.

3. Nord Threat Protection — A Popular Antivirus With a Host of Unique Features

NordVPN is one the most popular VPN platforms in the world, with more than 5,000 servers in 60+ countries. Consider Nord Threat Protection a member of the same company, more so an additional feature of NordVPN. 

It’s not an antivirus solution in itself, but it’s quite similar to one. For instance, the primary purpose of Nord Threat Protection is to protect you from viruses, malware, and spyware in order to keep hackers away — just like antivirus software.

The best part about Nord Threat Protection is it comes in two versions — the standard one and a “Lite” version. The Lite version works when the VPN is turned on and is only compatible with Windows and macOS. 

The regular version, on the other hand, is much more versatile. It protects your device from digital threats 24/7, even when it’s not connected to the VPN, and is compatible with Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. 

Along with protecting your device from viruses and malware, it also keeps away intrusive ads. After all, these ads not only disrupt your browsing experience but can also hide potentially harmful links that could expose your device to grave attacks.

What’s more, turning on the Nord Threat Protection feature is fairly simple. All that you’ve to do is launch the app and click on the shield icon on the left-hand side of the screen. Next, press the toggle button and accept the confirmation message to turn on the feature.

If you are using it on mobile, you’ll find the same option under the “Settings” tab. With Nord Threat Protection, it only takes a few seconds to secure your device with an additional layer of security. 

Pricing

If you want to get the most for your money, Nord’s 2-year plan is a great choice. Among the plans available, the Standard plan offers particularly good value starting at $4.19/month. It comes with a high-quality VPN, malware protection and an ad-blocker.

To gain access to even more security features, upgrade to Nord’s Complete plan, which provides additional features such as a data breach scanner, cross-platform password manager and approximately 1 TB of cloud storage.

Additionally, the plan does not have any price increases during renewals.

4. Surfshark — Quality Antivirus Software and Spy App Detector With Zero Renewal Hikes

Surfshark banked on its affordability, easy-to-use interface, and a combination of advanced spyware detection and removal features and one of the best VPNs to use in the current time to become one of the fastest cybersecurity companies to reach 1 million paying customers — in just 30 months.

Besides being one of the most lightweight spyware removal tools — Surfshark runs 24/7 in the background without eating up your CPU or RAM or slowing your device, Surfshark secured the top spot in our research as far as scan versatility is concerned.

It offers three types of scans:

The fact that Surfshark doesn’t have a firewall as competent as that of Norton might be a bummer for some of you. But it wouldn’t hurt to look past it because of how Surfshark makes up for it through the Surfshark Cloud Protect system.

Similar to TotalAV’s Rare File Alert feature, Surfshark’s Cloud Protect System analyzes any unknown files on your device to prevent zero-day attacks. This will ensure that no spyware can exploit unknown vulnerabilities of your device before Surfshark finds a fix for them.

For more, read our in-depth Surfshark review.

Pricing:

At just $3.48/month, Surfshark’s 2-year + 2 free months plan is an absolute bargain. It’s also one of the few plans out there that don’t tag along a renewal hike.

With a 30-day money-back guarantee to save you from losing any money if the service doesn’t match your needs, try Surfshark risk-free today.

5. McAfee — The Best Spyware Detector For Assistance From In-House Experts

McAfee is a perfect match for you if you’re looking for a beginner-friendly solution that provides personalized assistance from in-house experts. The antivirus platform goes beyond spilling step-by-step guides on blogs and assigns a human expert that remotely accesses your device remotely and scans it for spyware, viruses, or other types of trackers.

McAfee changed the way users protect their devices through its very own Protection Score functionality. As the name suggests, the Protection Score is a rating for the overall health of your device — on a scale of 1 to 1,000.

Wait. It gets better. Below the Protection Score, McAfee lists various actions you can take to improve the overall score and, therefore, the health of your device. For instance, if your email password has been compromised, changing it, thereby upping your protection, will increase the Protection Score.

We also like how McAfee takes the lead on important security protocol updates. This way, your system will never be found lagging against new and advanced threats.

Besides protecting unlimited devices on its premium plan — something not a lot of antivirus solutions do, the platform also blocks any unwanted pop-ups so that you don’t accidentally click on a spyware link.

What’s more, McAfee’s impressive bundle of features also includes a password manager, a VPN, and a parental control feature, making McAfee a well-rounded product for all your security needs.

Pricing:

McAfee’s Antivirus Plus plan covers 10 devices at just $24.99 for the first year (renews at $64.99/year). To unlock coverage for unlimited devices and more features like Identity Monitoring and one of the best parental control apps, get a McAfee Family plan.

Note that all McAfee family plans are 2-year subscriptions, as opposed to its Individual plans, which are for a single year. You’ll get the best bang for your buck with the Premium Family plan at $59.99/year for the first year. With a 30-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee, you can try McAfee without spending a penny. No hassle. No risk.

6. Avast — The Best Free Spy App Detector

Avast AntiVirus Pro is the best free spyware detection and removal software on the market right now.

There’s hardly any antivirus solution that gives you:

In our research, we loved Avast’s Smart Scans for quick cleanups, and more in-depth Full Virus Scans for device-wide detection and removal of active spyware and malware, browser threats, missing security patches on apps, and more. Despite being free services, the performance was on par with some of the industry’s best.

Avast also offers a special Boot Time Scan to remove stubborn spy apps that don’t go away with the regular cleanup. As the name suggests, the Boot Time Scan will run before your system boots up, giving the spyware no room to hide.

Although not as intuitive as TotalAV or McAfee, Avast’s AI and dynamic security protocols do a decent job of developing immunity in your device against new spyware and viruses automatically, ensuring protection against any potential future attack.

Trusted by over 400 million users around the world, you can protect all types of devices with Avast, then be it Android, Windows, iOS, or Mac.

Pricing:

The Avast One Essential package is completely free. Without paying a cent, you can enjoy top-notch features such as an advanced firewall, suspicious activity monitoring, and ransomware/malware blocking.

If you’re after the most feature-rich deal, get the Avast One package. At just $4.19/month for the first year (billed annually), you’ll get features like data protection, a VPN with access to 55 locations, device cleanup, automatic driver updates, and coverage for 5 devices.

Enjoy Avast One risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Don’t like it? Get a full refund.

7. Kaspersky Antivirus — The Best Spyware Infection Detector For Small, Medium & Large Businesses

Kaspersky Antivirus proved to be the best spyware detector tool for businesses in our research. Whether you have a small business (1-50 employees), a mid-size business (51-999 employees), or a full-on enterprise (1000+ employees), Kaspersky is your best bet to protect and clean all your work devices of spyware and other common security threats.

Kaspersky also offers solutions for the average user/family, so it’s truly an all-encompassing security solution. Kaspersky’s standout feature is its High-Tech Protection functionality that feeds off a database — the Kaspersky Security Network — containing details of all previous attacks attempted on systems under Kaspersky’s protection.

With tons of data under its belt, Kaspersky is able to detect and warn you of potentially malicious links in advance by color-coding the URLs based on threat levels.

Use Kaspersky’s Quick Scan functionality to look through areas in your device where spyware is usually hidden, and its Full Scan option to thoroughly comb every file, folder, and drive. If Kaspersky lays eyes on any spyware during the Quick Scan, a full scan will be automatically prompted.

Kaspersky strives to eliminate device vulnerabilities through its highly acclaimed triple-layer security protocol, which we believe is a slam dunk. It includes:

Pricing:

Kaspersky’s Standard Plan at $27.99 for the first year (renews at $56.99) covers 3 devices and should be perfect for a small family or an individual with an ecosystem of 3 devices. For access to a VPN, 24/7 remote IT support, and identity protection, Kaspersky’s Premium plan starting at $33.99 for the first year, will be the right pick for you.

What makes Kaspersky a business’s delight is its separate pricing tiers for Small, Medium, and Enterprise-level businesses, respectively. Check them out if you’re a business owner looking for organization-wide security solutions.

Find out whether Kasperksy solves your problems risk-free, thanks to its 30-day money-back guarantee.

8. TrendMicro — A Free Cell Phone Spy Software For All Devices On Your Home Network

TrendMicro offers its spyware detection and cure service under a free service called HouseCall. HouseCall is one of the easiest-to-operate antivirus solutions. A simple interface means that all you have to do is run the software and click on Start Scan.

We love the freedom TrendMicro provides to its users. Under the Custom Scan option, you can choose to scan only specific folders and files that you find suspicious or the commonly vulnerable areas, such as suspicious emails, attachments, and new downloads. This way, you won’t spend unnecessary time running full scans.

Now, coming to TrendMicro’s star feature that makes it highly effective in detecting almost all kinds of spyware — the Smart Protection Network.

Similar to the Kaspersky Security Network, the Housecall Smart Protection Network automatically extracts and stores spyware data and info on other types of threats from its users all around the world in a database.

This database then becomes the source through which TrendMicro first recognizes and then eliminates any security threat breeding in your system.

Unfortunately, HouseCall doesn’t come with real-time monitoring or malware/spyware scanning. Still, we find it to be a well-rounded and robust spyware detection solution, particularly for families.

This is because Housecall extends its protection to a user’s home network — one of the most common spyware transmission channels — to minimize any security breaches and data leaks on all the devices connected to the home network.

Pricing:

TrendMicro/HouseCall’s free plan is more than enough for an average user who wants coverage for only Windows devices. Even the paid plans are highly affordable — the best deal is the Antivirus+ Security plan at $19.95 for the first year. This particular paid plan too, covers only Windows devices.

If you want to cover devices other than Windows, such as Mac, Android, and iOS, you’ll have to select either the Maximum Security or the Premium Security plan, both of which are competitively priced. Although TrendMicro’s paid plans don’t come with a money-back guarantee, its 30-day free trial ensures that you can try it without any financial commitment.

9. Intego — Popular Spyware Detector with Specialized Solutions for Windows and Mac

Intego will suit you well if you want complete protection from spyware, ransomware, viruses, and other web-based threats on your device. Notwithstanding that Intego only provides coverage to a single Mac device (but up to 5 Windows devices, albeit only on its premium plan), it lets you choose between daily automated scans and location-specific manual scans.

This, plus Intego’s marking of previously checked trusted folders, will allow you to your device for vulnerabilities faster. Note that most spyware removal tools, including TrendMicro and Kaspersky, only come with manual Quick Scan and Full Scan options.

For a number 8 tool, Intego does an impressive job as far as giving control to the user during a scan is concerned. When Intego detects spyware on your device, it gives you two options to choose from:

Intego’s dashboard also houses a Quarantine menu, where you’ll see a list of all previously flagged files along with their details, such as detection date, threat name, location, and more.

How does this help? If a file is wrongfully flagged, you can restore it immediately and exclude it from future scans.

The sad bit is that Intego can’t run real-time scans on web activity or downloads solely because of the limitations imposed by the Mac App Store.

However, you won’t be too bogged down by it, thanks to Intego’s periodic scans that cover enough area, including web channels like emails and pop-ups, to prevent spyware from doing any real damage to your system.

Pricing:

All Intego Mac plans cover only a single device. The best deal for Mac users is the Mac Internet Security X9 plan, priced at just $19.99 for 1 year. For parental controls and enhanced system performance, the Mac Premium Bundle will be the best pick.

The good news for Windows users is that Intego can cover more than 1 PC (up to 5 PCs), but only on its Extended plan. The basic Personal plan covers only 1 Windows PC and costs $29.99/year.

You can try Intego’s services without putting any money on the line, thanks to its 30-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee.

10. Avira — A Free & Lightweight Software to Check For Spyware

Avira, although not as feature-rich and comprehensive as TotalAV, McAfee or Norton, still manages to stand out because of its easy, one-click installation. With one of the smallest footprints in the antivirus segment, Avira is on par with Surfshark as far as not being a burden on your system’s CPU is concerned.

It’ll run 24/7 in the background without interrupting any of your activities while providing 360-degree protection from spyware and a host of other malicious entities in real time. Avira Browser Safety, a specially designed spyware cleaner, will protect your online activities from spyware by preventing you from downloading corrupted and potentially spyware-infested files.

What’s sweeter is that it’s a free browser extension and will also come up with safer alternatives you can use as you weren’t able to download something because it turned out to be malicious. On top of all this, you’ll also enjoy an ad blocker that’ll protect you from accidentally clicking on a malicious ad pop-up.

There’s also an Avira Protection Cloud that works exactly like the Kaspersky Security Network and the Housecall Smart Protection Network to immunize your devices against any newly found spyware.

With more than 35 years of experience in anti-spyware technology, Avira is an internationally recognized and awarded spyware detection and removal service, making its service all the more trustworthy.

Pricing:

Without paying a cent, you can enjoy a 500Mb/month VPN and an Update Scanner with Avira’s free plan. For more features, such as real-time data breach alerts and automated cleaning and updates, get Avira Prime. It costs just $59.99 for the first year (renews at $99.99/year).

Try Avira with a staggering 60-day money-back guarantee. No risk. Full refund.

The Best Spyware Detection & Removal App Comparison Table

If you’re pressed for time, this no-nonsense table highlighting only the key differences between our top picks packaged in a crisp table is for you:

How We Chose the Best Spyware Detectors?

We couldn’t hold back and spilled our secret tricks for choosing the best spyware detectors. Take a look:

Scan Options

One of the first things to check in any spyware tool is the types of scans they offer. Spyware could be hidden anywhere on your device. Thus, a universal scan cannot fit individual unique needs. The tools we have picked offer different types of scans like Quick Scan for only checking the most vulnerable areas, Full Scan for a long and thorough check, and Real-time Scan to lookout for spyware on the go.

Device Compatibility

What good is spyware software if it cannot cater to diverse device types? For example, if you have an iPhone and a Windows laptop, you shouldn’t have to get separate spyware tools for each. That’s why the tools that we have selected cover Android, macOS, and Windows. The only exception is Intego, which offers a specialized service for Mac devices only.

Security Protocols 

Just knowing that software will remove spyware from your device isn’t enough. You should also know what else it can protect you against, how it will remove the spyware, and how it will prevent future attacks.

For instance, most of the tools picked by us not only protect you against spyware but also extend their shield against malware, viruses, Trojans, Ransomware, and many more malicious entities.

User Experience

Technical expertise is not enough. What you need to check is if the tool is easy-to-use and simple to set up. You might not be a tech expert, but that shouldn’t keep you from installing a powerful spyware removal tool. Whatever tool you pick should come with a guided, simple installation and responsive customer support.

How To Remove Spyware?

Removing the best keylogger apps, screen records, or spy apps, in general, is a cakewalk, especially with these methods:

1. Use a Spyware Removal Tool

The first and easiest way is to use a spyware removal tool. These tools come with in-built scanners that look into unknown files, folders, and apps to check if they are hiding spyware. And if they do manage to find one, it will be immediately destroyed, keeping all your other files safe.

2. Manually Remove Spyware

There are a few extra steps if you want to go the manual way. For starters, you will have to get your device in Safe Mode so that you are only dealing with the core files and drives of your operating system. Then, go to your Settings and check the app list for any unknown apps. If you find one you don’t remember seeing before, delete it immediately.

If the app has managed to get administrator permission, go to Settings > Security > Advanced > Device Administrators, change the permission, and then delete the app.

As a precautionary measure, any time you get an unknown message or email that seems shady, delete it immediately.

3. Perform a Factory Reset

If you are not satisfied with either of the two methods, a factory reset is your last resort. Since it will wipe out all your data and render the device back to its original “factory stage”, the spyware will also be flushed out. Make sure you keep a backup of all important files before you go for a factory reset.

Spyware Detector App FAQs