No matter how careful you are, it is very possible to lose your Android smartphone. Losing you Android smartphone can be a bad experience but trust me, all hope is not lost yet.
There are over 2.3 billion Android smartphone users in the world and losing yours could cut off your access to the rest of the world. Very sober!!
Now if you’re using an Android smartphone is very likely that you are already signed into it with your Google account. If that’s the case then Google Find my Device is automatically turned on and can help you track and locate the location of your smartphone, not only that, you can also remotely lock the phone and erase every data on the phone.
To make sure find my device is already turned on; Go to Settings > Security & Location > Find my Device.
If it isn’t turned on, click to enable it.
I’m going to walk you through how to find a lost Android smartphone using find my device and preventive measures to take before losing your smartphone.
How to Use Google Find my Device to find a lost Device.
You can either use a web browser or phone application to find your lost or stolen device.
Using Web browser to find your device.
Log on to android.com/find to see your phone last location on the map or simply Google “find my phone” without the quotation mark, if you’re signed into your Gmail or Google account itself and the same thing (last location) pops up in the search result because you might not remember the URL to find your device due to tension if you’ve just lost your phone.
Using Find My Device app to Find your lost/stolen phone.
Find My device app can be downloaded from Playstore and the size is just 2.3Mb (very small). There is no really big deal about using the Find My Device app but just that it allows you to sign in to a guest account meaning it won’t save your Google account to the device you signed in on.
Both these options give you a couple of ways to help you find your device using find my device; like ringing the phone even if it’s on silent. This very useful if you’ve lost your phone somewhere around the house or workplace. You could also see how much battery is left on the device and the Wi-Fi network it is connected to if the phone is turned on.
If the phone is turned off or the battery is dead, that obviously won’t work. So what to do is go for the next option; Click secure device and remotely lock your lost or stolen device. You can also choose to leave a message on the screen just incase the theft has a change of mind or sign out of your Google account altogether.
But if it is really gone, you have no other option but to wipe the phone completely and clear your data. Remember, if you do this, you won’t be able to locate and track the phone again on the map otherwise you use the IMEI number to track and locate the phone. I do hope you have a backup before wiping the device.
Basically, all you have to do to locate, lock and erase your lost or stolen Android device using Find My Device, the phone must:
- Be turned on
- Be signed in to a Google Account
- Be connected to mobile data or Wi-Fi
- Be visible on Google Play
- Have Location turned on
- Have Find My Device turned on.
So there you have it, I hope this post will be helpful to find your lost or stolen Android device immediately after you become aware that your phone is lost or stolen.
I recommend that you take this first step to find and locate your lost or stolen device and once you find it on the map, please use common sense and don’t try to track it down yourself. Instead go with the Police to the area where the lost or stolen device is located.
Related:
- How to Backup Contacts to your Google Account on Android
- How to unlock your Android Device if you Forgot the password.
