How To Set Up Find My Phone On Android

Observe My Device (Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central)

Notice My Device easily lets you remotely rail, lock, and erase the data on a lost or stolen phone. Yous can also see the bombardment life remaining on your phone and the Wi-Fi network it is continued to. There are other means to track a lost Android phone, but Discover My Device is the easiest selection, and information technology is enabled on all Android phones out of the box.

Find My Device is a part of Google Play Protect and the broader Play Services, a suite of utilities designed to protect your phone from malicious content. Google is leveraging its car learning expertise to scan and verify the apps installed on your phone, and while the Verify Apps feature has existed for several years at present, Google is making the procedure much more than visible to users.

Here's what you need to know about Notice My Device and how you lot can set information technology up on your telephone.

Will my phone piece of work with Notice My Device?

Earlier we show you lot how to install and set up Observe My Device, information technology'south of import to know whether your phone volition piece of work with information technology. If you take a device running Android iv.0 Ice Foam Sandwich or later, you'll exist able to install Observe My Device. That ways roughly over 99% of agile Android devices — over 2.5 billion devices worldwide — are eligible to install Observe My Device.

Find My Device should be installed out of the box on most recent phones, just you can manually download it from the Play Store. Nosotros'll break it downward for you:

Open Play Shop from your home screen or app drawer.
Search for Find My Device.
Tap the three dots next to the first search upshot and select Install.

Find My Device install — Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

How to go started with Find My Device

Subsequently installation, yous'll demand to sign in to Discover My Device from your Google account. If you're signed in to more than than one business relationship on your phone, you'll get a drop-down bill of fare from which you tin can select the business relationship yous want to associate with the telephone.

Open up Notice Device from your dwelling house screen or app drawer.
Select the Google business relationship you want to utilise the service with.
Hitting the Continue every bit push.

Find My Device sign in — Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

Enter your Google account password.
Tap Sign in.
Requite location access to the service.

Find My Device sign in password — Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Cardinal)

How to run into if your phone is discoverable with Notice My Device

Once y'all're signed in to Find My Device, you'll come across a map with your current location besides as the make and model of your telephone and two options — Play Sound and Enable Lock & Erase. Hit the latter option will allow you to start using the Lock and Erase functions.

If you lot've signed into more than ane telephone, you lot tin select a item device by browsing the list at the meridian of the screen.

Open Find My Device from your abode screen or app drawer.
Select your phone from the listing of devices at the peak of the screen.
See if your phone is discoverable.

Find My Device locate — Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

If y'all're non able to detect your phone or if information technology says that the device is unavailable, it is likely that the location services are disabled. Discover My Device relies on GPS to rail your phone, then now would be a skilful time to enable location services.

Open Settings from your home screen or app drawer.
Tap Location.
Toggle Enable location services.

Find My Device location — Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

How to locate your telephone over the cyberspace

If y'all've lost your phone, you can remotely locate it through the Notice My Device website. Get-go, y'all'll need to sign in to the Google account that was used to set up Find My Device. Information technology takes a few seconds, but the service should exist able to track your telephone. Alternatively, you can likewise do a Google search for "find my phone" to locate your handset.

Head to the Notice My Device website.
Sign in to your Google account.
Check if your device is visible.

Find My Device website — Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Fundamental)

How to band your telephone with Notice My Device

The all-time office about Find My Device is that it is hands attainable. If you need to locate your telephone, just head to the website or log in to the service from another phone. In one case you sign in to Discover My Device and locate your device, you tin use the Play Sound option, which plays a loud tone on your phone continuously at total volume for five minutes even if you turned the ringer off. Once you lot observe your phone, you tin hitting the power button to stop the ringing.

Locate your phone on Observe My Device.
Tap Play Sound.
Your device will commencement ringing. You can hit the power button to finish the sound.

Find My Device play sound — Source: Android Primal (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

How to lock your telephone with Notice My Device

In that location's also a Lock option that lets you set a new countersign to unlock the telephone. In add-on, you lot tin can brandish a message over the lock screen and add a button to remember your number so that anyone that comes across your phone tin can easily arrive touch with you lot.

Locate your phone on Find My Device.
Tap Lock.
Enter a bulletin and phone number to display on the lock screen and tap Lock.

Find My Device lock — Source: Android Central (Epitome credit: Source: Android Central)

How to erase your lost telephone's data remotely

If you're sure that you're not going to see your phone again, there is the nuclear selection of erasing the data remotely. Selecting Erase deletes all the data on your phone. The service also deletes data from a connected SD card, simply there is a adventure that it may not exist able to, based on the manufacturer and Android version. Fifty-fifty if your telephone is switched off when you send the Erase command, the reset process volition be initiated as soon every bit it goes online.

Locate your telephone on Find My Device.
Tap Erase.
Ostend deletion of data by striking the Erase button.

Find My Device erase — Source: Android Fundamental (Image credit: Source: Android Fundamental)

Detect My Device is the only tool you'll need to track your missing phone. The all-time part is that it comes installed out of the box, and in one case you lot fix information technology up, yous don't need to do much with it. Having a service similar this is handy, but you should also make it a betoken to jot down your phone's IMEI and series numbers. You can never be too conscientious, and in a scenario where y'all lose your telephone, or it gets stolen, an IMEI number lets you de-register the phone from cellular networks.

Harish Jonnalagadda is the Asia Editor at Android Central. A reformed hardware modder, he now spends his time covering the Chinese and Indian handset markets. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.