Knowing how to tell if your girlfriend is cheating can take a bit of detective work, especially if you want to (and should)take the high moral road and avoid invading her privacy. The below signs, especially when several show up at the same time, are the best hints you’re likely to get.
However, while all of these signs make a cheating girlfriend more probable, none of them offer definitive proof.
It’s important to point out that none of these signs she’s cheating makes it a sure-fire certainty that she is actually cheating, or even looking to cheat. There are perfectly innocent reasons she might act in any one or several of the ways listed above.
The best way to get at the truth is the most direct: simply ask her. She may or may not lie, but bringing your suspicions out into the open is far more likely to lead to the truth than a bunch of secretive snooping.
23 Signs Your Girlfriend Is Cheating
To be clear, none of these signs guarantee a cheating girlfriend… but if you see a lot of these happening in your relationship, it’s time to start worrying and, maybe expecting the worst.
Here are 23 signs your girlfriend is cheating:
1. She’s Talking Way Too Much To Someone
It would take a particularly brazen cheater to regularly text the other person right in front of you. It’s much more likely that the communication is not that straightforward. She may email the other person instead of texting—perhaps when you’re asleep or out doing something else—or she may talk to them only while at work.
If both parties are trying to keep this secret, they probably are doing at least that bare minimum to keep you off the scent. But if your partner is that obvious about it, things are probably in a pretty bad state in your relationship.
2. She Changes The Subject When A Certain Someone Comes Up
That kind of extreme behavior is a good sign she’s interested.
3. She’s Busy And Won’t Say Where She’s Been
This is also perhaps just about as noticeable a sign as you can find because you feel the difference distinctly. It may be what made you starting thinking about her cheating in the first place.
The contrast can be pretty stark:
- She used to have all the time in the world for you—now, her schedule’s packed.
- She used to be passionate about going out to the movies, trying new restaurants, and even just sitting around on the couch—now, she sees those activities as not worth her time.
- She used to want to go find new adventures on the weekend—now, she’s happy for you to have separate free-time activities.
4. She’s Always Working
If she’s working so much, what is the project? Did she get a promotion? Why is the boss keeping her late?
If she’s cheating, it’s likely the “work” excuse breaks down pretty quickly. If she doesn’t offer more information to make the situation a bit clearer (and more realistic), it’s far more likely, she’s keeping the story short on details to avoid falling into a lie you can check out.
Start getting suspicious if she reacts negatively when you want to know more instead of laying the situation out in detail.
5. She Claims Her Friend Needs Her, But Won’t Explain The Situation
This one can be very hard to confirm one way or the other. She may have just such a situation with a friend (you’ll know how true this rings for yourself if you have kept up with her friend circle).
At the same time, her friend may very well cover for her if you make a cursory check. Best, in this case, to note the issue and look for evidence elsewhere.
6. She’s Making All New Friends
It’s always nice to make new friends, but if she’s going out with a whole new group suddenly, time to worry.
If she’s hanging out with a new crowd, there’s a reason for it. It could be as simple as discovering a group that supports one of her interests, but she may also be enjoying time she can pretend she’s not attached to the guy sitting back home waiting for her.
7. …And You’re Not Invited To Get To Know Them
If she’s not looking to incorporate you into her new life and she’s not interested in maintaining the old one, well, you have to start wondering what’s going on in that separate life in the first place.
8. She’s Constantly Distracted
Your problems are no longer of any interest to her. Whatever is happening at your work or with your friends or family, she just doesn’t have much time or patience to worry about.
Instead, she’s busy staring off and thinking about…something. Always something else.
9. …And She Won’t Tell You What She’s Daydreaming About
This is doubly true if your partner usually shares her feelings. If she is distracted and she doesn’t want to share what she is worrying over or hopeful over, there’s a good chance it’s because she’s got someone else on her mind.
10. She’s Become Obsessed With Her Privacy
All of the sudden, everything is her personal business, and all of it is off limits to you. Everything is a secret, and you have no right to know anything.
The best defense, as the saying goes, is a good offense. If she’s hiding something, the easiest thing to do is to start snapping that you are just being jealous and she needs space.
While you want to leave room for self-examination here (are you being jealous and too nosy?), if she’s gone from privacy conscious to paranoid, she’s probably trying to discourage you from looking too closely at her behavior.
11. She Keeps Her Phone On High Security
12. She’s Suddenly Very Jealous And Suspicious
Her jealousy can show up in very different ways. She may start harassing you about every woman who passes on the street, insisting you were staring. This will go double for any female friends or coworkers you have. In this case, they are all potential cheating girlfriends you are spending too much time with.
Despite potential complaints about privacy in number 11, she may go so far as to grab your phone out of your hands every time you get a message or at least insist on knowing what every message and email is about. Again, this goes double for any women you talk to.
No matter how it manifests, this newly discovered jealousy is a very common symptom of someone trying to ease their own guilty conscience.
Turning you into the bad guy—or at least a guy with a mutual need to get out of the relationship—makes it easier for her to justify her own actions. It also helps push you further away, just like her need for privacy and her busy schedule.
13. She’s Looking For Reasons To Complain/Fight
If it’s not jealousy, it’s constant nagging.
- Why don’t you dress well?
- Why don’t you clean up?
- Why does she always have to cook?
- When is she ever going to get to pick the movie or choose the music in the car?
- Why are you still in that dead-end job?
And if she’s not happy, she’s also telling you, she has the right to start looking elsewhere.
14. She’s Not Interested In Getting More Serious
This one requires some contrast with the past. Some women aren’t interested in moving a relationship forward to a particular point: to marriage or kids or whatever other benchmark you might have in mind.
However, if your partner used to want those things and now she’s not interested in even discussing them, she’s definitely lost some interest in your relationship, and she may have developed an interest in a different one.
The lack of seriousness in her intentions can be seen in more than just her conversation.
If she isn’t getting more serious, she’s either complacent or else looking to de-escalate the relationship. Either way, it’s a sign she is at least flirting with the idea of walking away.
15. She Has Trouble Saying “I Love You”
Watch to see if she tries to avoid saying the words–by changing the subject or just ignoring your effort. Otherwise, she may just mumble the three syllables to get it over with.
If there’s no enthusiasm behind the most important phrase in your relationship, there’s a problem, whether it is cheating or not.
16. She’s Not Speaking Directly Anymore
This gets to a point that a number of these signs your girlfriend is cheating hint at: she’s just not direct with you anymore.
Whether it’s excuses for her flighty behavior, or losing interest in talking about moving forward, or vague complaints without any specific problem or solution, she’s just not giving you straight answers to any of the important, deep questions to ask your girlfriend.
This may extend as well to the less important stuff. Is she no longer willing to pick a movie or take a side in a friendly debate? Will she no longer choose a restaurant for dinner or tell you which tie looks best?
Whether it’s serious issues or small everyday topics, if she’s not being direct with you, there’s almost certainly a reason.
This is one sign you can test out easily. Steer the conversation towards topics she has to make a choice about. Don’t harangue her over it, but see how often over the course of a few conversations—don’t go off just one, since she might be having an off-day—she refuses to make any sort of serious, straightforward decisions.
17. She’s Dressing Up, And It’s Never For You
Perhaps she’s spoiling herself just for the sake of it, but perhaps she’s trying to look good for a purpose, and if that purpose is never you, you’ve got to start considering it’s someone else instead.
Watch out for how she dresses when she goes out with “friends” or heads off to work (especially if, as said above, you are never invited to these get-togethers). Is it markedly different than before? Does she give you a reason for the change that’s believable?
18. She’s Working Out Or Dieting, And You’re Not Invited To Join Her
Wanting to be healthier or look better is a perfectly worthwhile goal, but in a normal relationship, that goal would be shared, or at least offered to be shared. If she is keeping this part of her life to herself, she’s choosing not to share it with you.
19. She’s Developing A New Personality
It may not be another someone, but those kind of big changes suggest she’s not happy with the person she’s become, and that probably means she’s not happy in the relationship she finds herself in now.
20. She Doesn’t Make Eye Contact Anymore
Keep an eye on where her gaze goes whenever topics turn serious. This is an easy way to gauge if she’s being upfront with you.
21. She Doesn’t Want To Cuddle
Sometimes, someone cools off because they are responding to what they see in their partner. So, make the effort a few times. Put your arm around her and hold her close. If she pulls away, she’s trying to get away in more ways than one.
22. She Kisses You Without Any Passion
Like several of the signs your girlfriend is cheating above, this can just be proof of a problem in the relationship without it necessarily being cheating. But be aware, if there are problems that serious, it is just one more piece of evidence she’s on the way out the door, and maybe that she has someone waiting for her there.
23. She’s Just Not That Into You Anymore
Signs your girlfriend is cheating #20-22 all lead up to one major question: How’s your sex life?
If she’s cheating, the most likely answer is, “not good.” While, hypothetically, she might be keeping up her lovemaking with you and someone else, it’s far more likely she’s letting one bed get cold if she’s warming up another one.
In Conclusion
So… is she cheating? Is she using me? Ask yourself: how many of the signs your girlfriend is cheating did you see? If it’s a high number, there’s a chance that she cheated on you.
…But regardless, whether you see her acting out in any of the above ways or not, the fact you are looking so closely suggests you’re relationship needs work. There’s a lack of trust between you and enough emotional distance that a cheating girlfriend seems a realistic possibility. So, whether she’s strayed, thinking about it, or simply not focused on the partnership enough, there’s a problem, and it’s time to start fixing it or getting ready to get out.