How to Find a Lost Smartphone

Can’t find your iPhone? The first trick is to simply call it from another phone. If it’s somewhere in your current location, listen for the ringtone as a breadcrumb to track it down. If it’s in another location, then hopefully a Good Samaritan will answer the call and hold onto the phone for you.

If not, it’s time to try the Find My iPhone app, which comes with your iOS device and can also be downloaded via iTunes. If you’ve got an iPad, fire up the Find My iPhone app. The app displays the locations of any of your iOS devices currently turned on.

If your iPhone pops up on the map, tap on its icon. The app displays a few options.

Tap on “Play Sound,” and your iPhone emits a pinging sonar-sounding noise to help you find it.

Tap on “Lost Mode,” and your iPhone locks so no one can access it and displays your contact information in case someone finds it.

And if you can’t locate your phone and are concerned about it being accessed by the wrong person, tap on “Erase iPhone” to remove your personal information. The downside here is that an erased phone can no longer be found or tracked. So, use this option if you’ve given up all hope of finding your phone.

Got an Apple Watch? You can use your timepiece to help find your phone. Swipe up from the watch face to display the Control Center. Then tap on the icon that looks like a ringing phone. Your iPhone then emits the pinging noise to help you locate it. The noise goes off just once, so you’ll have to keep tapping on the icon to keep the pinging alive.

The Find My iPhone service is also available for a Mac as well as through iCloud. And Apple offers this handy support page on how to track down your missing device.

Google offers an app and webpage where you can hunt down your phone. The app is helpful if you have more than one Android device, while the webpage comes into play if you have just one device. Download the Find My Device app from Google Play on all your Android devices. Now let’s say your Android phone is missing, and the app is installed on your Android tablet. Fire up the app, and it should pinpoint the location of your lost phone.

Tap on “Play Sound” to prompt the phone to emit a sound.

Afraid the phone’s been stolen or don’t want the wrong person to access it? Tap on “Enable Lock & Erase.” You can then opt to just lock the phone or erase it.

Alternatively, you can use the Find My Device webpage. Log into the site with your Google account. The page should display the location of your phone as long as it’s turned on.

Click on “Play Sound” to coax your phone to play a tune to help you locate it.

Click on “Lock” to lock your phone so no one can access your personal information. You can opt to enter a password to unlock your device if screen lock isn’t enabled. You can also display a message or an alternative phone number on the device in case a good soul finds it.

If you’ve given up hope of finding the device and don’t want someone to access it, click on “Erase” to wipe out its contents.