How to Find a Lost Cell Phone?

Cell phones are one of the most valuable assets of our life as they contain sensitive data such as pictures, videos, financial information, banking details, etc. The last thing you want to do is to let it fall into the wrong hands. However, thanks to advanced technology, tracking a smartphone is much easier than it used to be in the pre-GPS era.

In this tutorial, we have listed down several methods that you can use to track a lost cell phone.

Finding a Lost Android Phone

If you lost your Android phone here is the methods explaining the step by step process how to find it.

Method 1: Using Another Android Phone

Open Google's Find My Device from another device. Note that it only works when the misplaced or lost phone is connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data. If your phone is not connected to the internet, it will show its last known location.

Sign in inside the app using the email address linked to your lost phone. If you don't have another android device, you can use the phone of your friend or family. You need to use the "sign in as guest" option in the Select the phone you want to track from the list. It will display the exact GPS location of your phone.

If your phone is misplaced and within reach, you can use the "Play Sound" option to make it ring. It rings for five minutes even if the phone is in silent mode.

If you lost your phone outside or it's been stolen, you can lock the device using the "secure device" option. Similarly, you can sign out of your Google account or send a message to the lost device that would be noticeable even if the screen is locked.

Method 2: Using Your PC

Go to your web browser. Open Google's "Find My Device" Website on your PC using the link Find My Device website. Select the device you want to track on the tab bar at the top of the screen. If you have multiple devices, the website will display the current or last known location of the recently used device.

Besides seeing the current location, you can also Ping your device, secure it from thieves, and erase the device by selecting the appropriate option.

Note − Besides phones, you can also use Find MY Device to track Android tablets and android watches.

Finding a Lost Samsung Phone

Samsung has its flagship anti-theft and tracking mechanism known as Find My Mobile, which features similar to Google's Find My Device but has some advantages.

Open a browser from your PC or phone. Open the Find My Mobile website using the link Find My Mobile.

Sign in using the same Samsung account linked to your lost phone. Select the lost phone from the list of linked devices on the sidebar on the left of your account page.

Select the "Track Location" option to check the location of the phone.

Note − Using the Samsung Find My Mobile to track your phone gives you some additional benefits besides the features offered by Google's Find My Device, such as retrieving calls and messages from your lost phone, turning on power-saving mode to track your phone longer, and also supporting offline finding. This enables your lost phone to send location data even when not connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data.

Finding a Lost iPhone

In this section, let's see how you can track a lost iPhone.

Method 1: Using Another iPhone, iPad or Mac

It only works if you already share your device location with a Family Sharing Group. If your iPhone is offline, you can still track as provided there are other apple devices nearby. If your iPhone is switched off, you can track the last location before it runs out of battery.

Open the Find My iPhone and top on Devices tab. It will display a map with lists of devices linked to the app. Select your iPhone from the list to see your lost iPhone's current or last location.

Note − if your iPhone is dead or switched off, it will appear with a black screen on the map, along with the last known location displayed in red text in the sidebar.

Method 2: Using iCloud from MAC

Open icloud.com on your browser. Sign in Using your Apple ID and password. You may get a prompt message asking permission to use iCloud on your current device. If prompted, click on "allow the use of iCloud.com on the device", followed by a two-factor authorization.

Find the "Find iPhone" app on the screen. Click on the missing iPhone device to know the location. Your device will appear black if it's turned off with the last known location written in smaller text. If your phone is turned on, you will see an active home screen with a battery icon displaying the battery level.

If your iPhone is nearby, you can tap Play Sound to locate it. Alternatively, tap on "Lost Mode" to lock the device entirely and send a custom message on your lost phone, such as your contact number or location. Meanwhile, the Erase mode allows you to erase all data from your phone and use it in case it is stolen or lost permanently.

Method 3: Using Google Maps

If you don't have "Find my Iphone" enabled, you can still track your device using Google Maps. It only works if you have allowed Google Maps on your device and turned on "location sharing Services".

Open google maps in your browser using the link "maps.google.com". Go to "google map timeline" and select your last location.

Can you track a cell phone if the sim card is replaced?

You can track a device even if someone changes the SIM card. You can do this through your location-tracking services such as "Find My Device" (Android), "Find My Phone" (iPhone) and "Find My Mobile" (Samsung phones) and Google Maps (works in all devices) provided your lost phone is connected to internet (excluding Samsung) and logged in with your email or ID.

Another method to track your phone is tracking it through its IMEI number. For this, you need a register a police complaint and ask them to take the necessary steps.

Can you track a cell phone if someone did a factory reset?

Yes, you can do it using the IMEI number of the device. The number is located in settings; you can find it on the "find my device/iphone" app or check for your phone's cover or invoice/bill.