How To Find Your Lost Android Phone
Spending a day without a smartphone is quite an unimaginable scenario in present times, and losing a smartphone is a mini-heart attack. No one would like to be in that situation of panic. But what if you do lose your smartphone? To your rescue, Google offers an easy way to find and locate Android smart phones. My Device feature allows the user not only to locate the handset but also lock it by setting a pin, pattern or passcode. The feature also allows the user to erase entire data to avoid the finder from accessing it, and here’s how to do it.
How to locate a lost Android smartphone
1: Head over to Google‘s Find My Device website on a separate phone or a laptop and login with your Google credentials. Now you are logged in to the smartphone you want to track.
2: As soon as you log in, the website will start searching for your last used device linked to the account. You will be able to see all of your other devices logged into that account below the last used device.
3: After the service locates your device it will provide you with its location on the map, along with multiple other options.
4: You can tap on the pointer located on the map to open a Google Maps window that provides the exact directions to your device.
5: After you reach the exact location, you can use the other options on the page like “Play Sound” or “Secure Device.”
Also read: Tricks To Block Or Minimise Online Tracking : Here’s All You Need To Know.
The play sound feature will ring your device for 5 minutes, even if it is on silent. The secure device feature will lock the device, sign it out of your Google account, and show a message and your phone number on the lock screen.
How To Find Your Lost Android Phone
If the thought of losing your phone stresses you out, make sure you prepare for such an event in advance and have means of locating your Android phone or wiping it in case it’s gone for good. One such option is installing an app called Google Find My Device.
If the thought of losing your phone stresses you out, make sure you prepare for such an event in advance and have means of locating your Android phone or wiping it in case it’s gone for good. One such option is installing an app called Google Find My Device.
A very common way of wiping phone’s data is using the Android Device Manager. It’s a built-in function inside every Android phone that lets you wipe your personal data from the device.
To use this feature, you have to sync your Android device (smartphone or tablet) with the Android Device Manager. It is compatible with Android 2.2 and above.
Follow these steps to sync your device:
- Go to your phone’s ‘Settings’ and click ‘Android Device Manager’
- Select ‘Allow Remote Lock and Factory Reset’
- Make sure the ‘Remotely Locate This Device’ button is clicked. If not, the click on it.
- Now check the ‘Allow Remote Lock and Factory Reset’ box. Once you do that, a screen will pop up asking your permission to wipe the data from your device.
- Go to Android Device Manager online by entering you Google account and select the device that you want to sync.
- Also read: This tool can unlock iPhone X for $15,000: Report
How to wipe data from your phone?
Once your device is synced, follow these steps to wipe the phone’s data:
1. From your computer, visit https://www.google.com/android/find and enter your Google account credentials.
2. Once you have logged in, the Device Manager will attempt to locate your phone. You should see a map showing the location of your device.
3. You can either ‘Ring’ your device, ‘Lock’ it or ‘Erase’ it.
4. If you choose Erase, you will be asked to enter a new password. Then a warning window will pop-up. If you agree, the entire data on your phone will be erased.