How can i locate an android phone

2. You should see your registered Android phone on the top left, a couple of options below that, and a Google map on the right.

3. You’ve got four options with your lost Android phone:

  • Find your phone on the Google map: Look at the map on the right of the screen to pinpoint the last place you left your phone.
  • Play Sound: Just like it sounds, this feature will make your Android phone ring for a few minutes, even if it’s set to silent.
  • Secure device: You can remotely lock your Android device and sign out of your Google account on your phone, so in case someone stole it, they won’t access all of the info tied to your Google account. You can even add a message or contact info to the lock screen so a friendly stranger can return it to you.
  • Erase device: If you’re sure your Android phone is gone for good, you can remotely erase all the content on it. Don't worry though, if you find it after erasing, your Google Account password is all that's needed to use it again.

How can i locate an android phone

You can use the map to see where you left your phone.

Samsung’s Find My Mobile app

Samsung has a service to help Galaxy users find their lost Android phones. For the service to work, however, the feature needs to be enabled and you need to be signed in to your Samsung account on your phone. Hopefully these two things happened before losing your phone. Well, don’t worry, you might have enabled the app and just forgot about it. Either way, take these steps to find your missing Galaxy phone.

  1. Go to findmymobile.samsung.com.
  2. Sign in to your Samsung account.
  3. Track your missing phone.

How can i locate an android phone

Source: Samsung

Borrow a friend’s phone and follow the steps above to track your missing Samsung phone.

How do I enable Samsung’s Find My Mobile app?

How can i locate an android phone

Source: Life360

Just in case your kid is getting home from school suspiciously quickly …

You can download the Life360 Family Locator app here.

Prey Anti Theft

The Prey Anti Theft app supports up to three devices with one free account. If one of those devices goes missing, you can sound an alarm on your missing phone and lock it down remotely from the Prey Anti Theft app.

How can i locate an android phone

Source: Prey Project

You have a nice host of options for when you lose your Android phone with Prey Anti Theft installed.

You can download the Prey Anti Theft app here.

Lost Android

The Lost Android app lets you access your phone from an external website. From there, you can do tons of different things to help you find your lost phone, or cause havoc for the person who stole your phone by locking it, flooding it with messages, stopping the Wi-Fi connection. 

Now that you know how to track your Android iPhone, here are your next steps

How can i locate an android phone

Written by

Tyler Abbott

Tyler has been obsessed with watching sports as efficiently as possible since the creation of the DVR. He is always on the lookout for the best tech in TV and wireless so he can watch all the sports and still have enough time to hang out with his baby. He has written about streaming, wireless, and TV for over three years. He hopes the Lakers will eventually get better.

Phones have become so much a part of our daily lives that it can be immediately traumatic if you suddenly can’t find your phone — whether you’ve left it in a cab, accidentally dropped it out of your pocket, or lost it under your bed. If you have an Android phone, you can use the Find My Device feature to (hopefully) locate your phone.

Find My Device depends on two things being enabled: the feature itself (of course) and Google’s Location services. In addition, the phone also has to be turned on and signed in to a Google account.

The Find My Device feature comes as part of the standard OS on Pixels and several other Android phones and is usually turned on by default. Be aware that some Android models may offer a different app; for example, Samsung phones have their own Find My Mobile app.

If you want to use Google’s Find My Device, you can check to see if it’s part of your phone’s version of Android.

  • Go to Settings > Security and look for Find My Device.
  • If the app is listed but is turned off, tap on it and use the toggle to turn it on.

How can i locate an android phone

Go to Settings > Security and look for Find My Device.

How can i locate an android phone

Toggle on Use Find My Device.

If you don’t have the Google app but would like to use it instead of the app that your manufacturer has installed — or if you want to use an Android tablet rather than a computer to find your phone or watch — you can go to the Play Store and install Google’s Find My Device app as well.

Next, you can check to see if Location is enabled:

  • Go to your phone’s settings and find Location. It will say right underneath the header whether it’s on or off.
  • If it’s off, tap on Location and toggle it on.
  • You can also check which apps have access to your location and which have used it recently. If you want to take this opportunity to fine-tune this setting, tap on App location permission to tweak location permission settings.

How can i locate an android phone

To use Find My Device, location services must be enabled.

How can i locate an android phone

Once Location is enabled, you can tweak the settings of various apps.

Find your phone

Now you’re set. If you can’t find your phone, simply go to Google’s search page and type “Find my device.” You will get a list of the devices you’ve registered with Google; choose the one you want to find. Pick one.

You’ll be taken to the Find My Device page, which will name your phone, the last time it was pinged (and the name of the Wi-Fi network it was using), and the current battery power. A Google map will show where your phone was last located.

How can i locate an android phone

Once you’ve located your phone, you have three options: ping it, lock it, or erase it. (The Google map on the right has been blocked out for privacy.)

Once you’ve located your device, there are three options that are listed on the left side of the screen. Which you choose depends on whether you feel the device is in a safe place or not. You can:

  • Have the device play a sound (usually, the ringtone) for five minutes so you can locate it.
  • Lock the device and sign out of your Google account, so that your data will be safe while you go to retrieve it (recommended if, say, you’ve left it in a cab or restaurant).
  • Erase the device. This is for times when you’re reasonably sure it’s been stolen and is not retrievable; you won’t be able to locate your device after that, but your content will no longer be on it.

Meanwhile, the phone will show a notification that it’s been located.

Update March 15th, 2022, 3:35PM ET: This article was originally published on August 13th, 2021, and has been updated to account for changes in Android.

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Can you track someone else's Android phone?

Answer: It is entirely possible to track someone's location via their cell phone number in the same way in which most phone network providers do around the world. Today, there are apps like Minspy that leverage cell triangulation technology to track a cell phone by its number in real-time.

Can you track an Android phone if lost?

Google's free Find My Device service is what you'll use should your phone ever go missing to track, remotely lock and remotely erase it. Check to make sure Find My Device is enabled on your Android phone by opening the Settings app and going to Security & Location > Find My Device.