What I do? Step by step instructions

If your cell phone was lost or stolen, you may have a chance to get it back. Most Android devices come from the factory with a system called Find my device and other tools, which allow you to perform remote tracking, blocking, sound and data erasure actions. Once you’ve lost your device, you’ll want to immediately implement the steps below, preferably in the order listed, to increase your chances of getting it back.

Additionally, after the theft or loss you will want to take measures to protect your line or telephone number with the help of the cellular operator, such as canceling the SIM or blocking the IMEI.

Finally, you should know that Android devices come with anti-theft protections such as FRP to prevent the cell phone from being used again, something that may reassure you a bit or give you some comfort.

The Google Find My Device tool, integrated and activated by default in Android, offers an option to lock the mobile screen remotely and online. If your cell phone did not have a lock screen configured, you can configure a password for it and it will be locked immediately if the device has a connection.

If the device already had a lock screen configured with a pattern, pin or password, you will not be able to configure a new password, but you can also generate the immediate lock order, something useful in case it was unlocked at the time of theft or loss.

The objective of locking the screen immediately, if it has not been, prevent them from accessing your data and manipulating the device in order to prevent you from doing something to recover it. For example, with the screen locked, modern devices cannot be turned off without first entering the unlock key.

There are several ways to access Find My Device, but most of them start scanning as soon as they are opened or launched. This can be inconvenient to do before blocking, because the scan generates a notification from the device that can alert the thief. Therefore, to lock the screen without tracking the device, you must do it from the Google account control panel, (myaccount.google.com), «Security», «Find a lost device». In this case, the mobile app is inconvenient and do it from the web version of Find my device in the browser of a family member or friend’s cell phone as well.

Another advantage of finding my device remote lock is that you can add a message on the lock screen for whoever has your device and a phone number they can call you if they want to return it.

Ring, call

If you recently lost your cell phone, it may be nearby or someone around you may have it. The same Find My Device tool offers the option Play sound, which will make your device ring for five minutes at maximum volume (even if the cell phone has been silent).

However, if your cell phone has no connection, you could also call your number from another device, but in this case the device will not ring if it was silent. If someone does answer, be sure to speak politely, kindly, and wisely, as well as offering a reasonable attractive financial reward for your phone, or the other person will have no interest in returning it. In case of reaching an agreement, make sure to take all the security measures when going to pick it up, if possible with the support of the police to avoid misfortunes.

Again, to prevent the device located notification from being generated when you open the Find my device tool, use the version that is available in your Google account panel. Only from there can you make it sound without tracking.

Probably only after doing the above and having no success will you want to get the location of your Android device. In this case, it will no longer matter from which version of Find my device you access to track your mobile. The device located notification will appear when the phone IS located. Therefore, you should act quickly once located, I insist, taking all necessary precautions.

If you see «device cannot be found«, «location not available»Or similar errors, your alternative will be to check the location history in search of a place that can give you an indication of the current location of your phone.

If you think that you will no longer be able to recover your cell phone, just in case you should unlink Gmail account from device, that is, delete the account, so that the session in all Google apps are closed, including Gmail and YouTube. You can do this by deleting your device from your account administration.

It is important to note that, according to Google, when removing your account from the device You can STILL locate it using Find My Device, make it ring or delete your data.

Report to the operator

One way to prevent your cell phone from being used by someone else is to report it as stolen, so that the IMEI is added to the black list (EJ: Ecuador). Normally you will have to ask the operator to block the IMEI, something that they can do just by providing your data as the owner of the line or telephone number. Surely the operator has the IMEI of your device in its database, but if not, you can obtain your IMEI in the Find my device tool and provide it to generate the block.

When you generate an IMEI lock, the operator will ask you to create a password, which you must indicate in the future in case you recover your device and want to remove it from the black list.

The disadvantage of reporting the IMEI is that the equipment will surely lose connectivity with the operator’s network. That means you may lose your mobile data connection, which is helpful for you to track.

Another thing you may want to do is report the SIM card and block it or redirect your calls and messages to another number. This is important if you used SMS verification on your phone to access your bank account, for example.

Delete data

This last option should erase the phone data remotely or restore its factory settings. Basically leave it like new. However, after doing this you will no longer be able to track your mobile or make it ring from Find my device. This also may not erase the data on your SD card.

By erasing your data in this way, the anti-reset protection or OEM lock (EX: Xperia) that will require entering the Gmail account that was registered on the device, or else the phone will be completely unusable. This security is also activated when the factory settings are forcibly restored, so if you have a phone that you found, it will be more convenient in every way if you try to return it to its owner.

References: Google

How to Track Your Cell Phone Online and Other Methods (Complete Guide)

How to block a lost cell phone, adding contact information on the screen

How to see your cell phone’s location history on Google Maps