Find your lost Phone | How to Find your lost Android smartphone

How to Find your lost Android smartphone

      Have you ever think what if the phone is stolen? If you accidentally drop it somewhere? What happens to the data, images, and contacts? Your mind starts to recall that last moment, you’ve seen the phone. Now, it’s possible that you might just recall in time where you kept your phone or a good Samaritan has kept it safely and you find it instantly after calling on it. However, there’s a strong chance that you might just never find your phone.
While it’s natural to panic at such a moment, fortunately, just like Apple’s ‘Find My Phone’ feature, Android smartphones also come with ‘Find Your Phone’ function. This feature keeps track of all the places and their locations you have visited with your phone. With the help of Google Maps, you can now track the location of your device in the form of a timeline. Wondering how?
Just simply follow these steps below


Method 1

Using Google Map

Requirements
- Any other smartphone or PC with internet connectivity
- Login ID and password of your Google Account

Steps to follow:
1. Open www.maps.google.co.in on any smartphone or PC
2. Log in using the Google Account linked to your lost/misplaced smartphone
3. Now, click or tap on the three-horizontal bar icon on the top-right corner
4. Select ‘Your timeline’ option
5. Here, you need to enter the Year, Month and Day for which you want to see the location of your          device
6. Maps will now show you the location history of your device along with the current location

Note: For this feature to work properly, your device must be switched on and must have the location services turned on.


Method 2

Using Google’s Find My Device

Requirements:
- Your device is connected with your Google account.
- Your device has access to the internet.
- Allowed Find My Device to locate your device (turned on by default). This can be changed in the      Google  Settings app.

          Find My Device is Google’s official tool and easy-to-use to track your lost Android phone or tablet. The best thing about this tool is that you don’t need to install an app to be able to track your devices. The only requirement is that your Android phone is connected to your Google account, turned on and connected to the internet. All you need to do is visit the Find My Device website while being logged into your Google Account. Once the site is loaded it will automatically try to track down your lost phone. If you have several Android devices registered, make sure the right one is chosen in the menu.

Steps to follow:
1. Open https://myaccount.google.com/intro/find-your-phone on any smartphone or PC
2. Log in using the Google Account linked to your lost/misplaced smartphone
3. Select any of the options form "Ring" or "Locate"
4. You can easily be able to view the location of your lost/misplaced smartphone


In a recent update, Google implemented some of the features into their search results page. This means that you’re able to quickly locate any registered Android device right from the search results. By using the search phrase “where is my phone”, Google displays a little map above the search results in which it will try to find your lost Android phone. Once found, you can let it ring by clicking on “Ring”.

Although this makes it more convenient to find your lost phone quickly, it won’t offer you all the options you get with the full interface of Find My Device.

By using it, you are able to track your registered Android devices, let your phone ring and wipe your phone’s data (which has to be enabled on your phone). Besides that, Find Your Device doesn’t offer more options to remote control your lost phone. I hope that Google keeps improving it and introduces more helpful features, such as taking a selfie of the person using it in case it got stolen.

If there’s no laptop around when you lose your device, you can also use someone else’s phone to track it. Instead of using the mobile browser, you can also use the Find My Device app. You can sign in using the guest mode and your Google account credentials. Now you should be able to track your lost device, let it ring or wipe its data.