Lost phone on table.
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With so much personal stuff on our phones, losing i feels disastrous. What can you practice after information technology'southward been lost? Android has its own version of "Notice My Phone" and it can track your telephone without any previous setup.

Note: In the past, this guide recommended apps that could be installed on your lost device remotely (like Android Lost) or had to be set upwards beforehand. Thankfully, Android no longer requires these third-party solutions.

How Information technology Works

Find My Device website.

Google's version of Apple'due south "Find My Phone" feature is simply called "Find My Device." It's pre-installed on all Android devices that accept the Google Play Store—which is the vast majority of them.

Find My Device is tied to your Google account, the ane you used to prepare your Android telephone for the very get-go time. That'due south besides when Notice My Telephone is activated. One time you lot've fix your phone, you're good to go. Find My Device is ready and waiting.

There are a couple of things Find My Device can do. First, it shows where your device is on a map, Wi-Fi information, and battery percentage. 2nd, it can only ring your phone—even if it's on silent—to assist you find it if you think it'southward nearby. Lastly, it tin remotely lock your phone or erase all of your information.

Using Android Find My Device

You can access Detect My Device from the website and the Android app. Note that the Android app is not required to exist installed on the lost device. This app is for viewing your devices, information technology'due south not what enables tracking. We'll be using the website in this guide, merely the aforementioned tools tin can exist establish in the app.

After signing in with your Google account, you'll see your devices. Select the device and you'll come across when it was last detected, the network information technology's on, and the battery.

Select a device.

Of grade, yous also can run into where the device is on the map. Selecting the pin will open Google Maps to that location.

Select pin on the map.

Side by side, y'all tin select "Play Sound." This volition ring your device for upwards to v minutes—regardless of ringer fashion/volume—until the device is unlocked.

Play a sound on lost phone.

The adjacent few tools are especially useful for lost devices. Nosotros'll start with "Secure Device." Select it and enter an optional message and phone number for whoever finds your phone. Then tap "Secure Device."

Secure the lost device by locking it.

The terminal tool is the most farthermost. If y'all don't think you'll e'er go the device back or yous're worried about someone getting into your personal stuff, you can erase everything remotely. If y'all practice this and you get the phone back, it will need to be set up from scratch again.

Select "Erase Device" then ostend your decision by clicking "Erase Device" again. There's no going dorsum after this.

Remotely erase all the device data.

That'south pretty much all there is to Discover My Telephone. Of course, all of these things rely on your lost phone being powered on. Y'all won't be able to track it or remotely exercise anything if the battery has died or someone turned it off.

However, there are some things you can exercise to remotely protect your information that will work even if the device is off.

RELATED: How to Remotely Sign out of Gmail on a Lost or Missing Device