3 Ways How to Track Mobile Phone Using IMEI Number

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Over the years, there have been new methods now on how you can track your phone using IMEI. Here is the updated version of the method with some new few tips that you can do to track your mobile phone using IMEI number.

The last time we wrote about how to track the phone using IMEI number is way back in 2013. Some of the tips we offer at that time are still valid nevertheless. Check out the article here.

The mobile phone nowadays is equipped with GPS and also have a pre-installed app that can track your cell phone easily if you lost or got your phone stolen. However, sometimes having this advanced features is not enough. So, what happens if you just lost your phone and you could not track it using the pre-installed app such as Find iPhone and Android Device Manager? The second best option is to track your phone using your phone’s IMEI number.

WHAT IS IMEI NUMBER?

What is IMEI number

IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. It is a unique identifier for your phone in which phone manufacturer will need to assign it to all phone being manufactured. It is a 15 to 17 digit of numbers in sequence. Imagine a plate number or chassis number for your car.

Each car will have a different number as a way to identify them from other same car models. The same applies to your phone too. Your phone might have a similar model and colour, but the IMEI number is unique to every phone that has ever been manufactured in the world.

HOW TO FIND IMEI NUMBER IN YOUR PHONE?

Here are two quick ways how you can find your phone’s IMEI number or read here for more details

FIRST OPTION

How to Find IMEI number 1

Step 1
Go to your phone keypad

Step 2

Type *#06#

A string of IMEI number will appear on your screen. This method applies to all types of phone.


SECOND OPTION

How to Find IMEI number 2

Step 1
Go to your phone General Settings

Step 2
Go to About

Step 3
Search for IMEI number in the list of information

HOW TO USE IMEI NUMBER TO TRACK YOUR PHONE

The IMEI number has one important purpose, and that is to identify your phone in a cell network operator. With thousands of mobile phones connected in the same time as yours on the cell phone network, the network operator will use your SIM card number and also IMEI number as a valid identifier to your phone to differentiate from other connected phones. This way the network operator would know your cell phone usage for billing purposes as well as your phone’s location at the same time so that they can send and received any calls for you that they received from their network.

So, in a scenario, if you do lose your phone or got it stolen, as long as the SIM card is there; your phone is on, and the phone battery does not run out, your phone will continue to send a transmission to the nearest cell phone tower. Even if the SIM card is taken out, the cell tower can still identify your phone using the IMEI number of your phone through the Equipment Identity Register or EIR. The EIR is a database commonly GSM network used to list all valid mobile equipment that is using their network.

So, if you now understand what IMEI is and how it is used, here are the steps if you want to track the phone using IMEI number

1. REPORT LOST PHONE TO THE AUTHORITIES

This step is essential to provide legal documentation that your phone is lost. This will help you in the second step.

How to Track Phone Using IMEI number 1

What do you need to report? Among the critical information you need to provide to the police are:-
i. IMEI number
ii. SIM card number
iii. Phone’s model, brand and colour
iv. Any other unique physical identifier for your phone
v. Where do you think you lost it
vi. Where do you think it got stolen

2. REPORT LOST PHONE TO YOUR CELL PHONE NETWORK PROVIDER

How to Track Phone Using IMEI number 2

As explained earlier on, your SIM card number and IMEI number is the unique identifier for your cell phone network service operator. Using the Equipment Identity Register (EIR), a cell phone network operator can blacklist the stolen phone from using their network. That’s why it is vital that you make a police report first so that you can show this legal documentation to your cell phone service provider so that they can act.

The cell phone service provider can also help you to locate where your phone is if the phone does transmit an active signal to their nearest cell tower. However, a disclaimer here is that not all countries and cell phone network service provider will help you to do the blacklisting and also to track your phone using the IMEI method. It needs a clear government policy of allowing this to happen in certain countries. So, that brings us the last option.


3. REPORT LOST PHONE TO A NATIONAL DATABASE REGISTRY FOR STOLEN ITEMS

How to Track Phone Using IMEI number 3

Another method that has grown popular over the last few years are the establishment of a national database for stolen goods and properties. The way this database works is that if you submit your IMEI number there and report it as stolen or lost, the database will keep your data as a record.

If someone naively did buy your stolen phone from the thief and checked the IMEI number in the database, it will instantly alert the buyer that the phone was stolen property. Some of the database in certain countries also link this to the police database so that law enforcement can immediately act on it.

Here is some example in certain countries where this database have been developed to help customers retrieve back their phone using IMEI number.

In Australia, they have created a central database called the EIE Administration Node that helps to check the status of your phone by just providing an IMEI number.

In the United States, an organisation such as the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, CTIA offers free services to check if the phone you just bought was stolen or not. You can check their website here. You can submit your IMEI number there, and if someone did buy your stolen phone and check it in the database, the law enforcement could immediately investigate it.

If you are in the United Kingdom, similar services like this are the Immobilise website. The database has been there for a while, and the services do not limit to cell phone recovery only but also to all stolen goods and property.

So, there you have it. A step by step guide on how you can track your phone using the IMEI number. Please leave us a comment if you think this article might have been useful for you and can help you trace your lost phone.

Read also our previous article on the ultimate guide on how to track your lost phone.

3 Ways How to Find IMEI Numbers on your iPhone

IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI for short. IMEI is basically a unique identifier to your iPhone as each mobile phone has a unique IMEI number. It is embedded during the manufacturing phase of your iPhone. IMEI number is very useful to identify clone mobile phone as well as tracking your lost iPhone.

By using the IMEI number, the operator can know or block that phone from using a certain network. Read here on how to track phone using IMEI. IMEI number can also be used for unlocking purposes as well as insurance purposes. So, how do you find your IMEI numbers? Here are 3 ways that you can quickly find your IMEI numbers.


1. Find IMEI numbers using Keypad

One of the way you can obtain your IMEI numbers is by using your keypad. Here are the steps.

iphone imei numbers

Step 1
Open your iPhone and tap the ‘phone’ icon below

Step 2
Choose the keypad mode

iphone imei numbers

Step 3
Type *#06# on your keypad

Step 4
The IMEI numbers of your mobile phone will then appear in your iPhone’s screen.

2. Find IMEI numbers at your General settings

Another way to find your phone’s IMEI numbers is by finding it at the general settings menu in your iPhone. Here are the steps.

how to find imei numbers

Step 1
Go to Settings

Step 2
Once in the Settings, go to General

find imei numbers iphone

Step 3
In the General mode, tap at the ‘About’

Step 4
There will be a list of details and numbers for your iPhone. Scroll down and you will see the IMEI category together with the numbers at the right side.

3. Find IMEI numbers at the back of your iPhone

And, finally the quickest way to find your IMEI numbers even without opening your iPhone, is by looking at the back cover of your iPhone. You can easily check the IMEI number printed at the low centre back of your iPhone.

find iphone imei

Bonus tips:-
But what happens if you just lost your iPhone and you did not manage to check your IMEI numbers using these 3 ways? Luckily, Apple have also included your mobile phone’s IMEI at the box packaging of your iPhone. Try looking at the back of the original box packaging and the IMEI numbers are printed there. Read more here on how to find your IMEI numbers after you lost your phone.

So, there you have it. The 3 ways on how to find IMEI numbers on your iPhone. Read also here on the top 3 ways to track your iPhone.


Top 3 Ways to Track Your iPhone

However, unfortunate event does happen when you least expected and this also involves losing your iPhone. This can happen either you misplaced it or it was stolen. Good thing for the users of iPhone is that iPhone can be considered as a small powerful computer that have GPS installed in it. With the wonders of modern technology, you can actually track your iPhone as long as it is not switch off and is connected to the internet. Here we will list down the top 3 ways you can track your iPhone if you did lost it.

find iphone

1. Track using Find iPhone App

The best method to track your lost iPhone is by using the ‘Find iPhone’ app that already pre-installed in your iPhone. The app is available for any Apple devices that have iOS 5 and above. Any users of Apple devices will have a unique Apple ID in which they are recognized within any of their Apple devices. If you have an iPhone and an iPad, it is likely that you are using the same Apple ID.

The good thing about having the same Apple ID throughout your Apple devices is that all your Apple devices interconnected to one another in iCloud. The reason for this is for the seamless interaction you can have with your data or files that you can share or upload across multiple Apple devices. With the iCloud environment, you are able to track where are your Apple devices are located in a map. Below are the steps.

Step 1
Login to your Apple account or iCloud account using other devices such as iPhone, iPad or MacBook.

Step 2
It will then show your iPhone location in a map. However, the iPhone must be connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or Cellular network for it to show in the map

Step 3
You have the option of play sound if you find that the iPhone is nearby, or erase the data if your iPhone is stolen and do not want any confidential information to fall in the wrong hand, or put it on lost mode.

find iphone 1


2. Track your iPhone using the internet

Besides the Find iPhone app, you can actually use other different apps and also services out there to track your iPhone. Remember that your iPhone is a small powerful computer that has an embedded GPS in it. Therefore, you can use this function to track your iPhone using other options such as Google and also third party apps. If you want to track your iPhone using Google Timeline, below are the steps.

Step 1
You can start by visiting Google Timeline. Just type Google timeline in the Google search engine.

Step 2
Login to your Google account. The Google timeline will then show the last location of your iPhone was connected via the internet or cellular network.

find iphone 3

3. Track your iPhone using IMEI

IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity and which typically consists of 15 numbers. Your iPhone have a unique IMEI number. You can obtain your IMEI number by typing *#06# at your keypad and it will show you a 15 string of numbers. That number represents your iPhone IMEI and only unique to your iPhone.

Another way to know your IMEI iPhone number once you lost your phone is by looking at the back of your iPhone at the bottom. However, if you already lost your iPhone and did not recorded your iPhone’s IMEI number, you can always look at the box packaging that comes with your iPhone when you first purchased it. Normally, it is included together with the Box. What you can do with that IMEI number is to bring the number to your cell phone network operator and request for it to be blocked once it is connected to the network.

However, some disclaimer here - Not all network operator have a tracking services for lost phone. Read more on how to find your phone using IMEI here. Below are the steps.

Step 1
Type *#06# at your keypad. Your iPhone screen will show a 15 digit string of number. That is your iPhone's IMEI number. Record it and keep it somewhere safe.

Step 2
Give the IMEI number to your Cellular Network Provider for them to track it. However, please check with your service provider as not all provide this services.