Photo: Aleksander_G Gwiazda (Shutterstock)
If you’ve misplaced your Android phone, it’s easy to find it again. Take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and follow these steps as we show you how to get back your lost Android device.
What you need to find a lost Android phone
Before you start looking for your lost phone, be aware that there are a few prerequisites. Your phone must be turned on, signed in to a Google account, connected to the internet, and have GPS and Find My Device (you can check this by clicking Settings> Security> Find my device) turned on. If your lost phone is turned off or doesn’t meet any of the above conditions, it will be difficult to find.
How to find your lost Android phone
After you’ve checked the basics, go to android.com/find and sign in with your Google account. Make sure to sign in with the same Google Account that was used on your lost phone.
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Screenshot: Pranay Parab
For those who only have one phone, you will be shown the location of your device when you log in to this website. If you have two or more phones, you can click the lost phone’s name at the top of the webpage to find it.
Notice that your phone’s location is shown on the map on the right side of the screen. This location, google Remarks, is approximate and cannot be entirely accurate. Note, of course, that if your phone has been stolen, it’s probably not a good idea to find it yourself.
How to play a sound on your lost Android phone
If you’ve forgotten your phone somewhere, its location on the map is useful for remembering where you forgot it. However, once you get to the location (and you are in a safe place), you can locate your phone by pinging it.
To do this, you can log in to android.com/find with your Google account and select the phone that you cannot find. Press the Play sound Button in the left pane that plays a tone on your phone continuously for five minutes, even when the device is in silent mode.
Here’s how to lock your lost Android phone and put a message on the lock screen
On the same android.com/find Page you can click Safe device in the left pane to lock your lost phone and sign out of your Google account to protect your data. This feature allows you to display a message on the screen along with a phone number. If you’re lucky and a friendly stranger finds your phone, your message and alternate number can help get it back to you. When you have entered the message and number, click Safe device again to lock it.
Here’s how to remotely erase all data from your Android phone
When all hope is gone and you’ve unfortunately lost your phone forever, you can click Delete device on the android.com/find Page to reset it to factory settings. You have to hit the green Delete device a second time to confirm that you want to erase everything on the device. Just be aware that this method will erase the data in the internal storage, but it may not erase the data on SD cards in your phone.
