Every phone sold today can be found, locked and wiped from another device, but only if one setting was on before it went missing. Switch it on now, then keep these four steps for the bad day.
The short version
- Find My on an iPhone and Find Hub on Android must be on before the phone is lost.
- Any web browser can show where the phone is and lock it.
- Erase the phone only when you are sure it is gone.
Switch on finding before you need it
Where to find it: iPhone: Settings, your name, Find My, Find My iPhone. Android: Settings, search for Find Hub
A phone that never had finding switched on does not appear on any map, and nothing can be done for it remotely. On Android, Find Hub, the new name for Find My Device, turns on by itself once a Google Account is added; check that location is on too.
See where it is from any browser
Where to find it: icloud.com/find for an iPhone, android.com/find for an Android phone
Sign in on a computer or a friend's phone and the map shows the phone's last known place, with the option to play a sound if it is somewhere nearby. On iCloud, the Find Devices button works without a verification code, so the lost phone does not lock you out.
Mark it as lost
Where to find it: Find My, Devices, your phone, Mark As Lost. Find Hub, your phone, Mark as lost
Marking an iPhone as lost locks it with its passcode, can show a message and a number on the Lock Screen, and suspends the cards in Apple Pay. If the phone is offline, the request waits until it connects again. Android offers the same lock and message from Find Hub.
Erase it only as a last resort
Where to find it: The same device page, Erase This Device or Factory reset device
Erasing deletes everything and cannot be undone. An Android phone that is factory reset no longer shows in Find Hub. On an iPhone, never remove the erased phone from Find My: the Activation Lock that stays on is what stops someone else from using it.
Questions people ask
- Should I put my phone number on the Lock Screen if the phone was stolen?
- No. Apple advises leaving contact details off a stolen phone, and going to the police rather than to a location on the map you do not recognize.
- I use 2-Step Verification. How do I sign in without my phone?
- Keep backup codes somewhere other than the phone. Google asks for 2-Step Verification before it will lock or erase a lost Android phone remotely, and the codes get you in when the phone that receives your prompts is the one that is missing.
