These days, a smartphone is not just a tool for communication but a necessity to make everyone’s life easier. Apart from using it as a communication device, you use your phone to store data and important information like your full address, bank details and many more. The thought of losing your phone by accident or losing it to a stranger can jeopardize your security and privacy. Therefore, it is important that you learn how to find your lost phone to secure your private and important information.
Here’s our step by step guide to help you find your lost smartphone. Check them out below.
How to find your lost Android and iPhone
1. Call or Text your Phone
One way to find your lost phone is through call or text. If you’re sure that you just misplaced your phone inside your house or in your office, where you trust everyone, you can simply use this method.
By having someone call or text your phone, you can easily locate your smartphone. You can also borrow your friend/officemate/family member’s smartphone to call your phone by yourself. Once you hear your ringtone, you can immediately recognize it and locate your phone in an instant. However, this method is only applicable for phones not turned on silent or vibrate mode. If your phone is in silent or a vibrate mode, even if you just misplaced it, it will be hard for you to find it.
2. Memory Backtracking
If calling or texting your phone is not an effective method to find your lost phone, then try thinking backward. This is a special method of our brain abilities. When you misplaced your phone, you can retrieve it by using the power of your memory.
You just have to write down every detail you did prior to the event that led to losing your phone. You have to be very specific in every detail you remember. Using a pen and a paper, write down colors, shapes and other things you saw before you lost your phone. You can also try acting it out like going back to the same spot minutes or hours before you lost your phone. In addition, you can also act out the same activities you did. This way, your brain can pinpoint memory that happened in the past. This is called backtracking. If you do this, you can surely remember details regarding your lost smartphone and eventually find it through memory backtracking.
3. Use Built-in Locator Tool
Android and iPhone have built-in phone-finding services. For iPhone, it’s the “Find my iPhone” tool while for Android, its “Find my Device” tool.
How to Find my iPhone tool
To use Find My iPhone tool, you have to set it up first. Go to settings, then iCloud. Look for Find my iPhone and enable it. Furthermore, turn on the Send Last Location menu, which sends your last known location before your battery dies. In addition, turn on your location services. After you do this, you don’t have to worry anymore if someone steals your iPhone or you lost it somewhere.
Having set up Find My iPhone, you have two ways to locate your lost smartphone. First, you can use the free Find My iPhone app on any Apple device to locate your phone. The other method is by enabling your device’s iCloud options and track down your phone from the iCloud website. You have an option to mark your iPhone, or you can also lock your phone or wipe data from your smartphone.
Find My iPhone will help you track your phone by showing you a map of your phone’s last known location. Moreover, it can alarm your phone even if it’s muted. Furthermore, you can lock your iPhone or set it as “Lost Mode” to disable anyone from using it.
How to use Find my Device
On the other hand, for Android user, to use Find My Device or Device Manager, go to Settings and find Google. Then tap the Security tab and look for Find my Device. Make sure to turn on your location services so you can access the Find my Device tool. From this, you also have two ways to track your Android. You can use the free app on Google Play Store or you can google search “Find my Device.” Once you’ve enabled any of this two options, you will be able to find your android phone.