Whether you loss your phone or if it was stolen, the good news is that it can be found if you have a Google Account installed on it. Doesn’t matter what type of phone it is, whether you have the Samsung Galaxy or an Apple iPhone, if you have previously installed and logged into Gmail, Google Drive, or YouTube App, you are in luck.
Locating Your Lost Phone
Instructions below are from a Desktop Computer
- Head over to Google.com
- At the top right screen, click the button that says Sign In.
- At the top right screen, click on your Profile Icon
- Click on Google Account
- On the left side navigation, click on Security
- Scroll towards the bottom of the page and look for section called “Your Devices”.
- Click on “Find a loss or stolen phone”.
- Select the phone from the list of devices that was lost or stolen
Available Recovery Options
- With your missing phone selected, select either Ring or Locate. If your phone is on, the Ring or Locate feature is your best option. Ringing will allow the person who has found your phone to speak to you and arrange for pickup, while Locate will track your phone. If your phone isn’t in anyone’s possession, you can locate the phone’s exact location and retrieve it.
- If your phone is off or can’t be located, choose from one of the following other choices from Google below:Lock Your Phone
This prevents your phone from being accessed. If your phone ever get’s powered on, it will be locked.Try calling your phone
Google will attempt to call your phone using Hangouts. If someone picks up, you can have them return your phone to you.Sign out on your phone
Signs you out of all of your Google Accounts on that device. If your phone get’s powered on, the user won’t be able to access your Google data.Reach out to your carrier
This step tells you to contact your phone’s carrier. This may be the best option to disabling the SIM card and transferring your phone number to a new device.Consider erasing your device
If you have sensitive data on your phone that you don’t want exposed, the best option is to erase your device.
We hope this guide has provided help for recovering your loss or stolen phone. Any questions you have, feel free to leave a comment below.
