How to Find Your Lost Phone when the Battery is Dead (Step-by-Step Guide)

So, you just lost your phone and you fear that the battery is also dead. Your chances of finding your phone are very low. However, as the saying goes, “Never say never”. There are still many ways how you can still find your lost phone by retrieving your phone’s last location before it went dead.

However, if your phone was stolen, the last tracked location might be irrelevant as your phone can be anywhere else. But, to know where are your phone’s last location might help you are the local enforcers in tracking down your stolen phone.

Here we are going to show the options that you can take to find your lost phone even if your phone’s battery might be dead.

TRY TRACING BACK YOUR STEPS TO FIND YOUR LOST PHONE

The first thing you should do if you just lost your phone and you think the phone is not on, is to manually trace back your step. Trackback your last activities and where have you have been prior you realised that you have lost your phone. Sometimes, you have just probably misplaced in somewhere near you.

VIEW THE LAST LOCATION USING GOOGLE’S “FIND MY DEVICE”

Previously known as the Android Device Manager, Google has an application that helps track all your Android-based device. The Google platform is now called “Find My Device”.

Here are the steps on how to use it.

Step 1

Go to https://www.google.com/android/find

You can also search in the Google Search Engine by typing “Find My Device”

Step 2

If you use any phone that uses Android, it will show your phone’s last here in a map

VIEW THE LAST LOCATION USING “FIND IPHONE”

Besides Android, if you are using an iPhone, you can use the iOS “Find iPhone” to track your lost phone before the battery went dead. You need to log into your Apple account using a PC or laptop.

Here are the steps.

Step 1

Go to https://www.iCloud.com

Sign in to your iCloud account using your Apple ID

Step 2

In your iCloud account, click at “Find iPhone”

Step 3

Click at “All Devices” to see all of your Apple connected devices

Step 4

Click at the iPhone that you have lost

The location is based on the location of your lost iPhone before it runs out of power or turned off

VIEW LAST LOCATION USING CLOUD STORAGE SERVICES

If you have been using a cloud storage services to backup your file in your phone such as Dropbox, it is highly likely that your Dropbox account has the latest location of your lost phone due to the syncing process.

Here are the steps.

Step 1

If you use Cloud storage services such as Dropbox, go to the site and log into your account

Step 2

In your account, click at “Settings”

Step 3

At Settings, go to “Security”

Find devices that are linked to your Dropbox for syncing

It will show you the device last location when it wan syncing and connected before it went dead

VIEW LAST LOCATION USING YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT

If your lost phone has used any of Google product or services such as Gmail, you can track it last location using your Google account.

Here are the steps.

Step 1

Go to https://www.google.com/account

Step 2

Log into your Google account. Make sure you log into the Google account or Gmail account that you have used in your lost phone.

Step 3

Once you have logged into your Google account, click at “Security”

Step 4

At Security, go to “Your Devices”

Click at “Find a lost device”

Step 5

At “Your devices”, find the phone that you have lost and click “More details”

Step 6

At the details of the device, click at “Find device”

Step 7

At the bottom of the screen, it will show you the phone’s last tracked location

So, there you have it – Five ways how you can still find your lost phone even when the battery is dead. Please leave us a comment below on what other ways that you can use to find your lost phone even when your phone is dead.

Please read also our previous article on how to find your lost iPhone if the location was turned off.

How to Track Phone Using Google Account

If you have used Google search engine before to search for information, you would be interested to know that you can also use Google to find and track your phone. Google can not only track an Android phone but as well help find iPhone also. As long as your phone is using any Google services, such as Android or Gmail, you can use Google to help track your phone.

Here we are going to show you two simple ways how you can use the power of Google in helping you find your phone if you got it lost.

WHY TRACK PHONE USING GOOGLE?

If you are using an iPhone or other types of non-Android phone, it would be easier to use other types of tracking location app that is installed by default in your phone. However, there are some advantages to tracking your lost phone using Google. Here are some of the top reasons:-

UTILIZING GOOGLE SERVICES – By utilizing google services such as Gmail or even Google Drive, you can keep track of the location of your phone

TRACKING ANDROID BASED PHONE – If your family or friends used Android-based phone, Google is probably the best way to track their phone as their phone would be linked to their Google account.

So, if you are interested to learn how to find lost phone using Google, here are the steps.

HOW TO TRACK PHONE USING GOOGLE’S ANDROID DEVICE MANAGER

Step 1

Go to https://www.android.com/find

Next, sign in to your Google account. Make sure to use the same Google account you used for your phone’s Android

Step 2

Google will show you your phone’s last location when it is turned on and connected to the internet

HOW TO TRACK USING YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT

Step 1

Go to https://accounts.google.com

Choose the google account that is linked to your phone’s Android

Step 2

In the Google account, click at “Security”

Step 3

In your “Security” menu, the device that linked with your Google Account will be shown there

Click at “Find a Lost Device” below if you want to track your phone

Step 4

Next, click on the phone that you want to track and find

Step 5

Sign in to the Google account that is related to your phone

Step 6

Here you can choose to find and lock your phone, try calling your phone or sign out from your google account remotely.

So, there you have it – Two simple ways how to use Google to find and track your lost phone. Please leave us a comment below on what other ways that you use to find and track your lost phone.

Please also read our previous article on how to track phone using google location sharing.

Top 5 Things to Prepare In Case Your Phone Got Stolen

An interesting fact that 3 out of 5 people would not have been prepared for their phone to get stolen. Even though most of us might have taken careful handling and precaution of our phone, this misfortune can happen. Based on statistics, more than 70 million mobile phone theft is reported with only 7% recovery of their phone.

With extra precaution that you can take earlier on, you might be able to be among that 7% who can recover your phone in the case of your phone got stolen. Here is some extra precaution you can take earlier on when you still have your phone with you.

1. NOTE DOWN ALL THE PHONE’S DETAILS IN ANOTHER PLACE BESIDES YOUR PHONE

If you do lose your phone and you want to file a police report, the first thing that the authorities would want is the phone’s IMEI number. This is because the IMEI number is unique to your phone only. So, this information is helpful if they can track your phone to somebody. The thief might have wipe off all the data on your phone, but the IMEI number would remain the same.

It is similar to the chassis number for a car. You can repaint the whole car and disguise it as a different car, but the chassis number will still be there in the engine and car body. The same with the IMEI number. The thief might have changed all the settings in your stolen iPhone, but the IMEI number is unique to that particular phone.

Another number that might be handy when you report is your phone’s ICCID number. The ICCID number is the number that represents your SIM card. So, it might be useful also if your phone still has your sim card in it.

If you use iPhone, here are the steps on how you can obtain the IMEI and ICCID numbers

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 2

Step 1
In your iPhone, go to Settings

Step 2
In the Settings, go to General Settings

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 3

Step 3
In the General Settings, tap “About”

Step 4
In the “About” section, scroll down and screenshot the IMEI and ICCID numbers.

You can then print out the screenshot and save it someplace safe. You can also email the screenshot to your email account for safe keeping as well.

2. ENABLE LOCATION SERVICES IN YOUR PHONE

Nowadays, most people own a smartphone. With a smartphone, you have a mini computer on your hand. Among the standard function that a smartphone has is the Global Positioning System or GPS. What is a GPS? GPS is used as a way for your phone to communicate with satellites and therefore pinpoint your exact phone location.

This feature serves many uses in today’s application. This also involves tracking your phone location if you lost it. However, it is essential that you enable the function or else you would not be able to track your phone if you got it stolen or lost.

Here is how you can enable the location services in your iPhone

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 4

Step 1
In your iPhone, go to Settings

Step 2
In the Settings, go to “Privacy”

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 5

Step 3
In “Privacy”, go to “Location Services.”

Step 4
In “Location Services”, enable it by tapping the button at the right side

3. ENABLE TRACKING APP

For iPhone
If you have an iPhone, there is the app called “Find iPhone”. Even though it is installed in your iPhone by default, it will not work unless you enable your iPhone location services. Make sure to test it out to see whether it can track your phone or not.

Here is a quick way to check.

Step 1
In your iPhone, go to Settings

Step 2
In the Settings, go to “Privacy”

Step 3
In the Settings, go to “Location Services”

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 8

Step 4
In the “Location Services”, go to “System Services”

Step 5
In the “System Services”, go to “Find My iPhone”.
If the button is already green, it means it is already enabled.

For Androids
If you have an Android-based phone, make sure that you have your phone already registered at the Android Device Manager. This way, you can always track your phone even if got lost.

You can quickly go to the Android Device Manager website here to see whether your devices are active or not.

4. USE “FIND FRIENDS” AND PAIR WITH SOMEONE YOU TRUST

In the iPhone, there is an app called “Find Friends”. This app enables you to know the location of your friends who also used this app. You can share your location as well as they can share their location. So, in case your phone got stolen or lost, you can call up your friends whom you had your location and asked him or her to track your phone’s location. It will show a live location update instantly.

Here is how you can enable your friends to see your location using this app.

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 9

Step 1
In your iPhone, ta at “Find Friends”. It is installed in your iPhone by default.

Step 2
In the app, tap at “Me” below

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 10

Step 3
In the “Me” section, go to “Share My Location” and enable it.
Once this function is enabled, friends that you added in the app can see your location.

So, if you do get your phone lost someday, you can ask the help of your friends that you have shared location with using this app.

5. BACKUP EVERYTHING

From a survey, the most precious thing that people would value in their phone is the pictures. Just imagine all the memories whether it is by video or images that you have captured in your cellphone gone forever. The contact details in the phone can be retrieved back, but all the captured memories will be gone forever with the stolen phone. So, it is better that you backup everything.

Things to Prepare in case phone got stolen 11

There are software that you can use to back up your photos and files automatically. You can use Dropbox and also Google Drive. This software will automatically backup your pictures and data in the cloud storage. Therefore, if you do lose your phone, you can automatically retrieve back all your photo memories in the cloud.

However, Dropbox and Google Drive have its space limitation if you are using for free. If you want more space, there is a certain fee you need to pay on a monthly basis. Google Drive offers 15GB for free. Therefore, it can be a good option for you as long as you are not using much data in all of your Google account including in your Gmail.

So, there you have it. The top 5 things that you need to prepare just in case you lost your phone. If you have done this preparation, the chances of you getting back your lost phone would be high.

However, if you feel that your phone got stolen and you manage to track it to someone, it is best that you report to the police and let the police make the recovery of your phone. Never do it by yourself as it might put you in a dangerous situation.

Please leave us a comment below on how you feel this tips might help you. Please also read our previous article on the ultimate guide on how to track a phone.