Best Ways to Find a Missing Phone
Updated: Aug 9, 2019
Losing your phone can be a very tragic situation especially when you have no hope of getting it back.
You probably dropped the phone in a place you went to and somebody picked it up or you were quite unlucky and got hit by thief but still it is the most frustrating thing you can encounter.
However, take heart there are plenty of ways to get a hold of your missing phone. Be it an Android or Apple phone we've got you covered.
Using Google Find my Device.
Google Find my Device is a service rendered by google. This service helps you track your phone, lock the phone and do a couple of other cool things.
Anytime you sign into an android phone using gmail. This service is automatically on but just to be on a safer side you can follow the below steps to check
Go to Settings > Security & Location > Find My Device.
Alternatively, if your device doesn't have a Security & Location option, go to
Head to Settings > Google > Security > Find My Device.
Find My Device should be turned on. If not, slide the switch to the On position and exit out of the Settings app.
Now that you've checked, in other to find the missing phone do the following
Open the Find My Device on your browser using the link https://www.google.com/android/find
Log into the website. Enter the email address and password for the Android that you want to find.
Select your phone by Clicking on your phone's name on the left side of the page. This will prompt Find My Device to begin searching for your Android's location.
Review your phone's location. Once your Android's location is determined, it will display on-screen.
If your Android is off or doesn't have a cellular/Wi-Fi connection, its location won't appear.
Lock down your phone if necessary. If you want to prevent your Android's data from being recovered, you can lock it down by doing the following:
--Click LOCK on the left side of the page.
--Enter a password if prompted.
--Enter a message and a recovery phone number if you like.
--Click LOCK when prompted.
This Only works if you have signed into your Android phone using your Google Mail.
There is also a Find My Device app available on the Google Play Store.
Using Samsung's Find My Mobile.
Samsung offers this only to phones created by them. In addition to your Google find my Device using this service is is like an addition because it gives you tools google find my device doesn't.
To check if this service is on, On your Samsung phone,
Open Settings > Biometrics and security> Find My Mobile.
If you signed into your Samsung account during the initial device setup, the Find My Mobile should already be enabled. If not, sign into your Samsung account and enable Find My Mobile.
To find your phone
Open the Find My Mobile website on your browser using the link https://findmymobile.samsung.com/
Click SIGN IN at the middle of the page.
Enter your account login information by Typing in your Samsung email address and password.
Check the "I'm not a robot" box at the bottom of the page.
Click SIGN IN. Doing so will open a list of your Samsung phones and/or tablets.
Select your Samsung. Click the phone that you want to lock down to do so.
Review the Samsung Galaxy's location. Once the Samsung Galaxy's location loads, it will display in the middle of the page.
If your Samsung Galaxy is off or doesn't have a cellular/Wi-Fi connection, its location won't appear.
Lock down your Samsung. If you want to ensure that no one can access your Samsung's data,
click LOCK MY DEVICE in the pop-up menu, then follow any on-screen instructions.You may find this option on the left side of the page.As a last-ditch way of protecting your data, you can erase your Samsung phone by selecting it,
clicking WIPE MY DEVICE, and following the on-screen prompts will prevent you from being able to track it anymore.
This Only works if you have signed into your phone using your Samsung account
Using Find My iPhone. .
Apple has similar feature as that of Samsung.
To find an iphone you need to use the app which comes pre-installed on every iOs device , what it does is that it tracks your phone location.
You will need a computer or another iOS device with the Find My iPhone app to deploy this feature .
To use the feature,
Log into iCloud and open the Find my iPhone feature.
It will locate your phone on a map and give you the option to play a sound on your device, send a message to your phone with “lost mode,” or erase its contents.
GUESS WHAT!!!
, Google has introduced Factory Reset Protection (FRP) designed to prevent would-be thieves from being able to steal your phone, wipe it, and then use it or sell it. If you factory reset a phone with FRP enabled and try to set it up as a new device, you’ll be prompted to enter the username and password for the last Google account that was registered on the device, and if you can’t, the phone will remain locked.
See also: How to Turn on Factory Reset Protection
Find your phone with third-party apps.
There are third party app that offer you certain feature that Google find my device doesn't.
Some of the apps can be downloaded from play store. They may include
2. Lost Android
Using Google Photos
This can be done backup and sync feature of Google Photos.
If activated all photos will automatically be synchronized to your Google Photos account,
the location where it was taken is uploaded as well.
If the thief didn’t log out of your Google Account and tried out the camera on your phone, there might be some new images in your Google Photos account.
Note that at the time of the picture been taken your phone needs to have access to the internet and the ‘Backup & Sync’ option in Google Photos enabled before then.
Assuming that the picture was synchronized click on the info icon on the top right corner of the pic. In the appearing sidebar you can now see the image’s information including the located where it was taken.
Using IMEI Number
IMEI is a 15-digit number which can be used for tracking and recovering stolen smartphones by GSM network providers and authorities.
IMEI number of smartphones are usually attached to the phone box, in the battery compartment, and “on the phone” (by dialing *#06#).
Make sure you note the IMEI number of your phone beforehand or this method will be useless to you.
Each time you use a mobile phone to access a network services like make or receive calls or send SMS, the IMEI number is sent to the network base station by the phone. This is what makes tracking by IMEI possible.
You should also contact the network provider with your IMEI number to block the phone. This action will render the phone useless to the thief.
If the phone is later recovered, you can also request for the phone to be unblocked.
This may require a police report with other documentations
Any phone which has been witched off will be very hard to track down not impossible
Finding Manually
1. Calling your cell phone might just be a nice way to get back your phone especially when you misplaced it.
Trying to Listen for the ring or vibration in cases you are certain you dropped it, If your phone is truly lost and in someone else’s hands, then they’re likely to answer if they intend to return the phone.
You could also use a free website service like freecall.com to dial your number from a computer.
2.Text your phone, If you believe someone has stolen or possibly found your phone.
sending a text message to your phone can just help recover your phone.
You could use a free website service to send free text messages, such as txt2day.com.
3. Retrace your steps, Do a full-fledged visual search in cases were you might have dropped the phone.
We also recommend caution when communicating with anyone who has found your smartphone. Be careful to avoid giving away any personal information, such as your home address.
Don't forget to Change your passwords immediately you discover your phone is missing
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