Having your phone lost or stolen is one of the worst things that can happen because we use them all the time for every purpose and we have really important information inside. From contacts that will be hard to write them down afterward, to pictures that have sentimental importance to you that you did not upload or saved them somewhere else. Also, many people use their phone so they can pay using it, if this falls in the wrong hands, you might be in trouble because you will lose significantly more.
However, you should not be afraid right away. There are many tools that you can use to find your device if you have lost it, or if it got stolen. The device can be tracked down, and you will have the feeling of relief and a lesson learned to pay attention to where you leave your stuff. Before you can use these tools, you will have to spend a little bit of time in preparation so you can act quickly if a situation like this comes up.
In this article, we will talk about some methods that you can use to track your lost android phone, and what you should do while preparing.
Preparation
This is a really important process so you should definitely pay attention to it. Before something happens, you need to be ready so you can act quickly and find it faster. There are a couple of things that you should do starting from the locking of the device. You should set up the phone so it can be unlocked only if you write down the password or other locking mechanism. Since we talk about android phones, try not to unlock them using your face because that can be surpassed relatively fast if the thief knows you using a photo of you. Make sure that you stick to the regular options of locking. We understand that this can be annoying to be done every time you have to use your device, but it is a good way of securing it.
The next thing you should do is to set up the tools that Google offers so you can get help tracking where your device is. Using the account that you have made you can connect them and if you are in a bad situation, you will just log in with the same account and you will have some options that we will discuss later. This tool can be activated in the setting menu where the other securing options are located, make sure that you toggle it on so you have something to do just in case.
The last thing when it comes to preparation if you are owning a Samsung phone is to toggle the tool that Samsung offers to track your lost device. It is way better than the previously mentioned one, but it is good to have them both just in case. To activate it, if it is not already by default, just go to your settings and go in the menu where the other mechanisms of device protection are located. You toggle the switch and you have a plan if something bad happens you can act right away.
Since we have seen what you should do to prepare yourselves, now it is time to see some of the methods that you should use if you have lost the mobile device.
Use the Google tool
The first thing that you should do is to use the tool that google offers so you can find your mobile if you have lost it somewhere. To do that, you should go to the website that they have given for this purpose and log in with the same account that the mobile is in. After that, you will have a couple of options that you can choose from. If you have misplaced it somewhere, you should go for the tracking option.
In case it was stolen from you, you should forbid the phone to be used so they don’t use the payment method in case you have set up and used it in the past. Also, you can set up something to pop up on the screen where the other number is written so they can call it if they find it somewhere and your friend or family can pick it up. With this, you can still track it but the person who has found or stolen the phone will not be able to.
Third-party tracking
If your phone’s brand tools are not working for you (Google, Samsung, Apple), it might be a good idea to try out one of the many third-party sites/apps online as suggested by find-my-phone.org. With geolocation or other tracking methods, these third-party websites could help you recover your mobile phone.
Use the Samsung tool
This is a better tool than the previous one because it has more features that you can use. Since we talked about how to set it up, all you need to do if you are in a bad situation is to go on the site that they have made for this purpose. Log in with the same account that you have set up this tool and you will be in a menu where there are multiple options that you can choose depending on the situation that you are in and what you want to do.
The first thing you should do is not grant permission for the mobile to be used. That way nobody will be able to use the mobile for anything, especially to use your finances if you have been paying with it in the past.
Call the authorities
This is the first thing that you have to do if you have it stolen from you. That way, they will be behind you all the time, and when you track the mobile and find the location, they will go to get it because otherwise you might get into trouble and that should be definitely avoided.
