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The Ultimate Guide on How to Find Your Lost Phone

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We have gotten a lot of requests from our visitors asking us to track their phone. It is very unfortunate that we could not help due to the fact that we are not providing that kind of services to track your phone. However as to keep to our tagline and that is to help you learn how to track your phone, we decided to give you the ultimate guide on the steps you need to take once you have that dreaded experience of losing your phone.

We think this guide can be one of the best way for you to have a higher percentage to recover back your lost or stolen phone. This guide is also useful to help you to make certain steps to protect sensitive data or information that you might have in your phone in case it got stolen and falls into the wrong hand.

the ultimate guide on how to track your lost phone 1

However, need to put a disclaimer to this guide as this guide is only prepared for people who have smartphones only. You can read on our previous article on how to track non-smartphone here.

So, let’s get to it.

Ok, let’s lay out the scenario here. You just get back from work or eating outside and just lying in your sofa and catching up on some Netflix. Then you are reaching out to your phone in your pocket to check for your email or Facebook, and then you realize that your phone is not there in your pocket.

So, there is probably three possible scenario here… it is either you simply misplaced your phone in your house, you left your phone at work or maybe someone have stolen your phone on the way home during your quick stop at a Starbuck outlet. The last scenario is maybe the scariest one as you come to realize that maybe your precious phone is now on the wrong hand. So, once you realize that your phone is gone, follow this step:-

STEP 1 – CALL YOUR PHONE

First of all, you need to make sure that you have not simply misplaced it in your home. If you in your house, you probably have a landed phone line. Try putting a call to your phone to see whether it rings. Or you can also use your spouse or friends phone to call your phone out.

However, if you have set your phone is silent mode or you have call but you hear nothing not even a vibrate noise… Go to Step 2

STEP 2 – LOCATE YOUR PHONE

For Step 2, we will divide it to two categories – For iPhone Users and For Android Users

Find iphone android device manager 3

For iPhone Users

Step 1
Go to https://www.icloud.com/#find
Sign-in using your Apple ID. The same Apple ID you have registered in your lost iPhone

Step 2
If you have more than one Apple devices, drop down the “All Devices” menu and choose the device that you have lost

Step 3
Your iPhone’s location will immediately be shown in a map. However, this will only work if your iPhone is on and connected to the internet.

You can then decide whether to lock it by choosing the “Lost Mode” or “Erase iPhone” to erase all the data in your iPhone if you feel that your iPhone is in the wrong hand.

Read here to learn more on the top 3 ways to track your iPhone.


For Android Users

Step 1
For android based users, the first step is go to this site
https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager

Login into your Google account. Make sure it is the same Google account you have registered in your Android based smartphones.

Step 2
The Android Device Manager will instantly show the location of your phone. This can only work if the phone is on and connected to the internet

Please read here on the top 3 ways to track your phone using Google.

STEP 3 – FIND YOUR PHONE’S IMEI

IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. It is a unique identity for every mobile phone that is manufactured all over the world. It consists of a 15 digit number and each phone has a unique 15 digit number. Therefore, if you lost your phone, one of the way to track it is by using the IMEI number. Even if the device changed SIM card, the IMEI can still be used to track your device.

One of the way you can obtain your IMEI numbers is by using your keypad. Just type in *#06# on your keypad. The IMEI numbers of your mobile phone will then appear in your iPhone’s screen.

how to find imei 4

 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 here from our previous article on how to get your phone’s IMEI number.

STEP 4 – GO TO YOUR NEAREST LOCAL POLICE STATION

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So, once you have gotten your phone’s IMEI, you then need to file a police report on your missing phone. Even though this would be a hassle, but the police report is needed for your next step. A picture of your lost phone if any, description of your lost phone such as the brand or manufacturer, the colour of your phone, where did you lost it, the last place you remember having your phone.

Show also other supporting details such as your phone’s IMEI and also the location that your Android Device Manager or Find iPhone app have shown.

STEP 5 – GO TO YOUR CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER

Here is some disclaimer. Not all cell phone service providers can assist you in helping to track your phone. However, some established and reputable one do have that services.

As long as you can show the police report that you have done and also you have your phone’s IMEI number, the cell phone service provider can assist you. The services they can offer includes locating your phone’s location and also blocking the phone usage from their network.

And finally, never ever try to locate your phone by yourself. Let the police do their job. You never know that by going to the place that your phone is located, it is probably in the wrong and that will probably do more harm if you are confronting the thief.

PRE-EMPTIVE MEASURES NEED TO BE TAKEN

Now you have done the steps above, here I am going to list down several pre-emptive measures on how you can avoid losing your smartphones or help you increase the chance of finding back your phone.

RECORD YOUR PHONE’S IMEI

In case that your phone gone missing, the IMEI number of your phone will become very important when it comes to relocating it. Here are some of the ways you can get your phone’s IMEI before you lost it.

1. 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.

Step 1
Go to Settings

Step 2
Once in the Settings, go to General

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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.

2. Find IMEI numbers at the back of your iPhone

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.

AUTOMATE YOUR SILENT MODE

Sometimes you lost your phone just due to the fact you have misplaced it. And most likely people like to put their phone on a silent mode. Therefore this makes finding your phone a bit more difficult. Probably many people are not aware of this is that you can actually automate your phone’s silent mode. Follow this steps here on how to automate your iPhone’s silent mode

Step 1
Go to iPhone Settings

Step 2
Choose the “Do Not Disturb” mode

Step 3
Enable the “Scheduled” and set the time

PUT YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBER OR CONTACT DETAILS

You can increase the chances of getting your phone return back to you by putting your emergency number or contact details in your phone. This emergency number can also be seen by anyone who found your phone even if your phone is locked. Here are the steps how you can set emergency contact number on your iPhone.

Step 1
Go to “Health” app. It is already pre-installed in your iPhone.

Step 2
Choose “Medical ID”

Step 3
Fill in your contact details there

Anybody who find your iPhone will be able to access your emergency contact number even when it is lock. Therefore, the probability that your phone will be return to you is high if the founder know how to get in touch with you.

So, there is our guide on how to find your lost phone. Please visit also our previous article on the 5 tips on how to avoid losing your smartphones. Any other ideas or suggestion that you want to add, feel free to leave a comment in our comment section below.

5 Tips on How to Avoid Losing Your Smartphones

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Smartphones nowadays has become more and more important to people’s daily live. They could not seem to get through their daily life without it. When you lost your smartphone, it is not just about the face value of your smartphone but also the intrinsic value of the data and information kept in your smartphones. Based on study by Lookout, the highest value the data on your smartphones are your photos and your contacts.

So, where and when do people normally lost their phone? Based on a survey conducted by Lookout Mobile Security, 44% of smartphones were stolen once the owners forgot and left them in public places. The most common places people left their smartphones are in restaurants and nightclubs. This fact shows that you can avoid the theft of your smartphone only if you have not forgotten to put back your smartphone into your pocket or purse. From the survey also shows that only 14% got their smartphones stolen or rob from their car or in their house.

However, with risk comes also the mitigation plan. You need to be prepare and do precautious step to avoid losing your most important device. Here are five tips on how to avoid smartphones lost and theft

5-tips-on-how-to-avoid-losing-your-smartphones

MAKE IT A HABIT

Make it a habit to put your smartphones immediately in your pocket or purse after using it. How to make this into a habit? You can start forming a new habit by consciously putting your smartphones in front of your pocket for 21 straight days. This will make your action to a subconscious action in which you will always make sure your smartphone guarded consistently.

Another bad habit is by putting your smartphones on the restaurant table once you use it. This increases the risk of you forgetting the smartphones once you left the place. Make it a habit to immediately put your smartphones back into your pocket or in your purse once you have used it. Also never make it a habit to give your smartphones to your kids during your outings in public places.

AUTOMATE YOUR SILENT MODE

Another main reason people lost their phone is that could not locate it because it is in silent mode. Therefore this makes finding your phone a bit more difficult. Probably many people are not aware of this is that you can actually automate your phone’s silent mode. Therefore you do not have to worry if your phone suddenly ringing when you are in the meeting just because you forgotten to put it in silent mode. This also will ensure that your smartphones are not in silent mode each time you are in public places. You can set when your phone should be on silent mode when it should not. Read and view here on how to automate your iPhone’s silent mode.


PUT YOUR SMARTPHONES IN FRONT OF YOUR POCKET

Study made by Lookout shows that 11% of people who lost their phones through either pickpocketing or got robbed. If you are being robbed, there is not much you can do as your life is more important than your smartphones. However, you can avoid your smartphones being pickpocket by simply putting your smartphones inside your front pocket.

The one problem people have about this is that the smartphones now are getting bigger and bigger. There is also an increase of trend for people to put their smartphones on the table or just bring it in their hands. To avoid pickpockets, put your smartphones in your front pocket always especially in public places.

PUT YOUR EMERGENCY NUMBER OR CONTACT DETAILS

Study from Lookout shows that most people lost their phones in public places that eventually lead them to be stolen afterwards. However, you can increase the chances of getting your phone return back to you by putting your emergency number or contact details in your phone. This emergency number can also be seen by anyone who found your phone even if your phone is locked.

Another best practice is to put your business card inside of your smartphones cover. So, if you left your phone in public places, people who found it can take their own initiative to return it to you or they give them to the police for further action. Read here on how you can set your emergency contact for iPhone users.

BE LESS DEPENDENT ON SMARTPHONES

People have become too dependent on their smartphones and must bring it to all places that they go. Smartphones is a very recent invention but it already have altered the daily habits of people around the world. People before this have live without smartphones. Learn to live without it too often. The less you bring your smartphones around, the lesser the chance of the smartphones will be lost or stolen. The statistics shows that people usually lost their phones in public places such as restaurant and nightclubs.

So, learn not to bring your smartphones if you are going to this places. After all, the reason you go to this places is to eat and social. And if you are worried that people could not contact you if there is emergency, buy a cheap phone when you are out socialising. The advantage is that you will not be distracted so much by your cheap phone and if you lost it, the impact would not be so much affecting you.


Top 3 Ways to Track Your Phone Using Google

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With the advancement of mobile technology, almost all smart phone nowadays comes equipped with GPS. The smart phones ability to automatically connect to the internet wherever it is based also provides many ways and methods in tracking your devices. There are also many applications that have been developed to utilize this technology. Read our previous articles to know more on GPS in your phone and also how you can turn off your smart phone’s GPS.

Google has also developed several services that utilizes the GPS installed in our smart phones so that you are able to track your location as well as your friend’s location in real time. Google can also track your devices location based on Wi-Fi and nearest cell towers connected. This services will also come in handy if you lost your phone and want to track it.

Here in this article, we will list down the top 3 ways to track your lost phone using Google.

1. TRACK YOUR PHONE USING ANDROID DEVICE MANAGER

In order for you to be able to track your phone using the Android Device Manager, your android based phone must be activated first. Follow this steps to enable your phone.

Step 1
Open your administrative settings of your phone. Enable the Android Device Manager. This will enable you to track, lock and also erase your phone from anywhere in case you lost your phone.

Step 2
You will also need to enable your Location Reporting in your setting. This will allow your phone GPS to send and receive signals from Google.

So, in the case that you misplaced or lost your phone, you can use Android Device Manager to track your phone but with the condition that
1. The phone is turn on
2. The phone must be connected to the internet via a mobile data or Wi-Fi connection

track phone using android device manager

Now, here are the steps that needs to be followed if you want to use the Android Device Manager:-

Step 1
You need to sign in to your Google Account. You can visit this site
Android Device Manager

Step 2
Once you logged in, the Android Device Manager will show your devices exact location in a Google Map. If you have more than one devices connected, click on the arrow next to the device name.

Step 3
You will then have the option to ring it so that you can know where it is if it is nearby, lock it if you are afraid someone have stolen it and also erase all the data inside your phone so that the person who stole your phone will not get the sensitive and confidential information inside your phone.

2. TRACK YOUR PHONE USING YOUR TIMELINE IN GOOGLE MAPS

Google Timeline

This feature has been long in the Google services but not many are aware of it. It was once known as Google Location History but have been revamped to now known as ‘Your Timeline’. ‘Your Timeline’ was designed by Google to help you track back the places and routes you have travelled. It is set at private and therefore only you can see your timeline.

The interesting thing with this service is that it does not rely on GPS but to the internet connection in which your devices is connected. Therefore, this device that it can help to track can be your laptop, tablet and also your smart phone.

However, the pre-requisite for you to start using this services is that you must:-
1. Have your device log in to your Google account.
2. Location Reporting must be activated in your device
3. Your device is connected to the internet.

Here are the simple steps required if you lost your phone and want to use this feature to track your phone.

Step 1
Visit ‘Your timeline’ page here
Google ‘Your Timeline’
Log into your Google account.

Step 2
Once you log in to your Google account, it will show whether you have a connected devices or not.Choose the time and date in the left bar. The timeline will then show your devices previous location and the time it was connected to the internet.

3. TRACK YOUR PHONE USING YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT

track phone using google account

Another way you can track your phone or devices using Google is by accessing your Google account. It works similar as tracking in ‘Your Timeline’. However, instead of giving you the devices footprint over time, the google account will only show you when was the last time your devices was connected to the internet.

As long as your devices are log in into your Google account, it will record the last time you log in whenever there is an internet connection. It will show you the location, date and also time information. Similar as using ‘Your Timeline’, it uses Wi-Fi and cell tower information in tracking your devices. Read our previous article on how cell towers can track your phone.

These information would prove useful at least to know an estimate location of your lost devices. Follow the steps here to track your phone using your Google Account.

Step 1
Open a browser and log into your Google Account

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Step 2
Once you are in your account, choose ‘Device Activity & Notifications’

Step 3
In the ‘Device Activity & Notifications’, you will see a list of devices connected to your Google account in ‘Recently used devices’. Tap on ‘Review devices’

Step 4
In the ‘Review devices’, choose the device that you want to locate. It will then show you the device’s last location, time and date recorded.

So, there you have it. The top 3 ways to track your phone using Google. Please leave a comment or visit our Youtube channel to subscribe to our community.