How to Track Your Lost Android Phone

We often forget where we left our phones. Your phone might be at your home, in your office, or your car and it’s annoying when we forget where we left our phone.  What if your phone is stolen, or it is somewhere far away? Well, we hope to discuss solutions for all that today.

The most obvious way to track an android phone is to ring it from another phone. But there can be several issues, your phone might be on silent mode or switched off. Also, it could be somewhere without any cell reception. So here we discuss some methods which are a bit more advanced and help you to track your phone easily.

How to track an android phone using google find my device.

Google find my device is a service that is made to track your devices. This service is really helpful when it comes to tracking devices. But to be tracked by this service the device should fulfill some requirements, which are listed below,

  • The phone must be turned on
  • The phone should be linked to a google account and linked
  • Should be connected to the internet (Wi-Fi or mobile data)
  • Location option must be turned on
  • Find my device option should be turned on

Now if your phone has all the requirements fulfilled, your device can be found using google find my device. Follow the steps below to do that,

  1. Go to this link
  2. Sign in using the email to which you have linked your device.
  3. Now your device will be shown.

Updated Guide – How to Track Your Lost Android Phone Using Google’s Find My Device Service

Note these things,

  • If you have more than one device linked to the same email, the list of devices would be shown. Select the device you want to locate from the list.
  • If your device is not connected to the internet or switched off by the time you locate it, it will show the last known location of your device. And it will let you how long ago the device was last seen in that location
  • Your phone will get a notification saying that your phone is located. Now if your phone is stolen by someone, they will get to know that it is located using android services.

After locating your phone, Google finds my device gives you several options to select.

Play sound: by this option, you can ring your phone. If your phone is within a couple of meters away from you, you will hear this ring. This is helpful if your phone is in silent mode.

Secure device: This will lock the device and sign out from google account and other linked accounts. And also you can set a phone number or a message to display on the lock screen of the phone. This is helpful if your phone is stolen or if your phone is far from your reach. When you use this option someone who finds your phone can contact you.

Erase device: this is the final option on the list, this will erase all content from your phone and factory reset the phone. This option is the last thing you want to do if you cannot locate your phone and you think it is stolen. After erasing all the content from the phone you will no longer be able to locate it using google find my device service.

How to track an android phone using Samsung services

Samsung offers their phone tracking service with their phones. These services are a bit more advanced than google find my device services. So if you are using a Samsung device it is better to check it out.

Now as same as with the google find my phone service, the phone must be connected to the internet and you should have set up your Samsung account on your device. If everything is done you can check the location of your device by following these steps,

  1. Go to this link and sign in with your credentials.
  2. Now you can see the location of your phone. If your phone is disconnected from the internet the last known location will be shown to you.

Now after locating the device these are some options that will be given for you.

Ring: Ring the phone at maximum volume.

Lock: lock the phone

Track location: this will track the phone and update the location of the phone every 15 minutes

Erase data: erase all the data in your phone

Backup: backup data in your device such as contacts, messages, etc. If you cannot retrieve your phone you can backup data to your Samsung account and erase those data from the phone

Retrieve calls /messages: you can look at the call log and the messages on your phone

Unlock: unlocks the phone

Extend battery life: when located, you could see the battery percentage of your device in the top right corner. If it is low you can select this option to shut down background services and extend battery life until you locate your device.

Set guardians: this is an option where you can set a person with another Samsung account to access the location details of your phone. This is a very useful option if your kid is using a phone. You can set your Samsung account as the guardian of your child’s device and track their location in an emergency.

How to track an android phone using IMEI

International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number is a unique number given to all the mobile devices by the manufacturer. This number is used to identify the device and cannot be changed in any way. When you connect to a network mobile or internet there are ways to grab this IMEI number from your phone. Especially your mobile carrier can identify your phone using IMEI number

IMEI number is usually printed in the device packaging. It may be printed on the bill and also it could be on the warranty card. You can get the IMEI number of your phone from the google find my service website.

Now if you cannot track your phone in any way, you can use this IMEI number to track it. This may be a long and hard option but you can still give it a go.

What you have to do is to get the IMEI number and file a complaint with your mobile service operator. You can also file a complaint from your local police office. In some countries, there are government agencies to take these cases such as the Telecommunications regulations committee. So if you fill a complaint there is a good chance that sooner or later it will be found by the authorities.

To track your android phone in the future.

  • Make sure you linked your phone to a Gmail account and enable the find my device option.
  • If you are using a Samsung phone, create a Samsung account.
  • try to keep your mobile connected to the internet as much as possible.
  • You also can install third-party apps to help track your phone. Many apps for this are available in the play store.
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