How to Find Your Lost Phone

Have you ever had that sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize you can’t find your phone?

You buy yourself a brand new smartphone and take it with you on your daily commute. Somewhere along the way, the phone went missing. Everyone knows someone who has been through this. Dealing with this can be very difficult since we rely on our phones for so many things. It can happen to anyone at any time, but if it does, all you’ll be worried about is: “How will I find my phone?”

But if you’ve been following our guide, you should have backed up your contact information to be prepared for the worst-case scenario – losing your phone forever.

But before you start shopping for your next phone, there are still a few things you can try. All major smartphone platforms offer a simple, built-in way to track your device when you’re not around, and they’re also very effective.

iPhone

Apple’s “Find My iPhone” service can track the phone’s physical location and more. But it needs to be turned on – If you’ve lost your phone then Find My iPhone is already turned on, but if you still have your phone with you the first thing you need to do is turn this setting on.

1. On your iOS device, go to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone.

2. Make sure the switch next to Find my iPhone is in green Get in position.

You can now track your iOS device using an app on another iPhone or iPad or using a browser. Here’s how the app works:

1. Download the Find My iPhone app on your iOS device.

2. Sign in with your iCloud account – the same account you use on the iPhone you’re trying to find.

3. Now, all devices logged into that iCloud account will be listed in the app.

4. Click on any device to see its location.

If you’ve lost your iPhone, this should help you find it, but you’ll see more options at the bottom of the screen that you can use.

You’ll see three buttons at the bottom – Play Sound, Lost Mode, and Erase iPhone – or iPad, as appropriate.

1. play sound A loud alert sound will sound to help you find your iOS device if it is nearby.

2. tapping lost mode Opens a page where you need to set a 4-digit passcode to lock your iOS device (if you haven’t set a passcode yet). If it already has a passcode, then you can use this button to remotely lock your phone so no one else can use it.

3. In Lost Mode, you can also enter a phone number and a message that will appear on the lock screen. You can type a message like “Hello, please return my iPhone. Contact me now.” You can also track your device this way.

4. this Erase iPhone (or Erase iPad) button deletes all data on your iOS device, in case you’re worried about sensitive data falling into the wrong hands. However, once you erase your phone, you won’t be able to use Find My iPhone to actually track it.

The above features can also be accessed via the web. Just go to iCloud and log in with your Apple ID. Other steps and buttons are the same.

Android

Android Device Manager works similarly to Find My iPhone. You can use Device Manager on the Internet or download the app to use from other Android devices. Tracing is on by default. Here’s how you use it:

1. Go to Android Device Manager.

2. Sign in with your Google Account (the same account you used on your lost phone).

3. Now you will see your Android device in the upper left corner.

4. If this is not what you are looking for, click the small down arrow next to the device name and select the correct device from the list.

This will show you the location of your lost device, but again, you have three options to choose from: Ring, Lock, and Wipe.

1. Click ring Will set your device to ring – can be used to find your phone if it’s nearby – for example if it’s lost at your home or office.

2. Click Lock If you lose your phone.

3. Enter the new password in the pop-up window and click confirm. You can also enter a recovery message and your phone number. These will appear on the lost device.

4. Click Lock When you have finished locking your device remotely.

5. To find the device, click GPS icon In the upper right corner of the box, next to the pencil icon. You need to enable location access on your Android device to use this feature. The device can now only be unlocked using the passcode you just set.

6. this Erase button will perform a factory reset on your device, which is important if you think you can’t restore your phone. But once you do that, then just like Find My iPhone, Android Device Manager won’t work either.

If you have an Android device, you can also track a lost device using the Android Device Manager app – the steps are the same after signing in with the same Google account as the lost device.

blackberry 10

The BlackBerry Protect service also has these same features, but you need to turn on BlackBerry Protect and its tracking service first. If you haven’t lost your phone yet, make sure these settings are turned on.

1. Go to Settings > BlackBerry Protect.

2. flip blackberry protection switch to exist.

3. tap location services.

4. flip location services switch to exist.

5. tap Back Save changes.

To find your lost phone, just follow these steps:

1. Log in to the BlackBerry Protect website.

2. Click View location.

3. If the service can find your phone, its location will appear on the map.

Same as others

1. You can click play sound button to make your phone ring loudly. This will help you find your phone when you forget it behind your couch cushions.

2. show message You can display a custom message on your home screen even if your device is locked

3. lock device Lets you set a new password and lock your phone.

4. Wiping device Perform a factory reset, but once you do this you won’t be able to track the phone again.

Windows Phone

Windows Phone users will also need to make sure the Find My Phone setting is enabled on their device, so the first thing to do is to turn it on while you still have your phone.

1. On your mobile phone go to Settings > Find my phone.

2. Check Use push notifications… and Periodically save your phone’s location before battery drains so it’s easier to find.

3. Go to Settings > Location and flip the switch to exist.

Now, if you lose your phone or lose it in any other way, you can use a browser on your computer or other device to find your phone. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to the Windows Phone website and log in with your Microsoft account.

2. Your Windows Phone device will appear at the top.

3. Click find my phone to locate your device.

4. If you haven’t checked it out yet Use push notifications… As mentioned in step 2, Microsoft will ask you to set up SMS based alerts. If you are in India, you need to scroll all the way down and select “Bharat” written in Devnagri script.

5. If you would like to set up a text message reminder, please enter your phone number, click the checkbox below, and then click complete.

6. Click find my phone (Above the map) The device will be found on the map.

Once your phone is found on the map, you can perform certain functions just like you would with other platforms.

1. ring Make the phone ring so you can find it nearby.

2. Lock You are asked to enter a new password and lock your phone so that no one else can use it.

3. Erase Delete all data on your phone, but you won’t be able to track it afterward.

Have you found your lost phone? Do you think these phone features are useful? Let us know in the comments. For more tutorials, head to our how-to section.