Recover a lost Android Phone: User Guide

Recover a lost Android Phone: It only takes some time to lose your phone that you so regularly use. You could lose it by forgetting it at a cafe you just visited or have it stolen from you during your daily commute.

Thus, to help you at the time you lose your phone, we are ready to guide you can follow to recover it or in the worst case, keep all of your data from the phone secured.

How to recover a lost Android phone

Android offers a kill of apps and services to help you track and locate lost devices. Here we have compiled a list of different methods that work the best for you if you wish to prevent losing your phone forever. Let’s come and check how to track a lost Android phone.

Recover a lost Android Phone – Using Google’s Find My Device

Google also offers its own Find My Device service for tracking lost devices. The service comes build-in on Android phones. If one can rush other laptop or smartphone to find their phone’s last known location or save it so that it’s data isn’t being accessed. The app does all the basic things like ringing your device, remotely locking your phone and cleaning all the data as a last resort.

Step 1:

Firstly, Download and install Find My Device from Google Play on the phone you wish to track on.

Step 2:

Then Open the Find My Device app.

Step 3: 

Choose the Google account you want the app to use by default by clicking on the profile box. Alternatively, you can click on Sign in as Guest to log in to a new Google account.

Step 4:

Once selected, click on Continue as “Your name” to proceed.

Step 5: 

Input the password to the Google account you choose.

Step 6:

Click on Sign in.

Step 7:

Also, allow the app location access by clicking on Allow. For best output, we’d suggest you select Allow instead of Allow only while using the app.

Step 8: 

Choose the device you wish to track from the choices given to you. If only one device is logged in to an account, you will be taken to its Find My Device page. It will now start tracking your lost device.

Step 9: 

Select a way to recover your lost phone from the following:

Check the phone’s location:

You can also check the status of your phone by clicking on the refresh button on the bottom right.

Check when it was last online:

You can also click on the ‘i’ icon above the refresh button to see the last time the device was online.

Ring your device:

Switching the feature ON will ring your smartphone continuously for 5 minutes at maximum volume. Click on Play Sound

Lock your device:

You can choose the Secure Device choices to lock your smartphone set a new password to unlock it. Click on the Secure device, input the phone number and personalized message you want to display on the lost phone and click on the Secure device again to lock your lost smartphone.

Erase your device’s data:

It acts as a way of factory-resetting your device which will remove all the apps, photos, videos, music, and settings of your phone. Click on Erase Device and after a warning prompt, click on Erase Device again.

Recover a lost Android Phone – Using the Life360 app

Life360’s Family Locator app is a GPS tracker for phones that can be used for families having multiple phones. Phones in the household will be connected onto a ‘circle’ that can all be tracked by other devices in the group. Your family members will appear inside a map and will be tracked in real-time so that you can see their location at any point in time.

Step 1:

Firstly, download and install the Life360 app from Google Play.

Step 2: 

Open the Life360 app.

Step 3:

Click on Get Started icon.

Step 4:

Input your phone number in the highlighted box and then click Next.

Step 5:

Create a password by entering the desired characters and then click Next.

Step 6:

On the next page, input your email ID and then click Next.

Step 7:

Enter your name, upload a picture and then click Next.

Step 8:

Allow location permission to the app by clicking on Allow Access and also clicking Allow all the time for the good results.

Step 9:

On the next page, click on Create a new circle.

Alternatively, you can also join an already created circle by entering a given code in the boxes and clicking Submit.

In the next screen, here’s a map showing the locations of the members in your circle.

Step 10:

Perform the following actions by following the instructions below:

Create a circle:

On the app’s home screen, click on the ‘+’ icon and press Add Circle. Select a circle category from the list provided and then create.

Invite new members to a circle:

Click on the ‘+’ icon and hit Invite. An invite code pop up on the next screen which you can share with users on chat and social media by clicking Send code.

Check-in to a place:

Click on the ‘+’ icon and press Check In to notify other members in your circle about your current whereabouts.

Add places you often visit:

On the app’s home screen, tap on the Places at the bottom. From here you can add your home address, place of work, the gym, and your grocery stores. You can also access this choice by clicking on the ‘+’ icon and pressing Add Place.

Send an emergency alert:

On the app’s home screen, click on the Safety tab at the bottom and press Trigger Help Alert. Then the app will send an emergency alert to your circle and emergency contacts after ten seconds. Alternatively, you can access this by clicking on the ‘+’ icon and pressing Help Alert.

Configure your tracking:

Also, by clicking on Settings at the bottom right, you can select to customize notifications through the app, location sharing, manage circles, detection while driving, account settings, security & privacy, and other advantages by purchasing the premium membership.

Change between circles:

On the app’s home screen, you can also switch between your different circles by clicking on the circle tab at the top.

Recover a lost Android Phone – Using Prey Anti Theft app

Another alternative to Find My Device is Prey which can help you to track three devices at a given time. Like other Google’s services, Prey’s Anti Theft: Find My Phone & Mobile Security app lets you locate your phone, lock, sound an alarm and remove your phone in case you’ve lost hope. Premium users of the service also can restore all their data from the phone through the file recovery option. Also, the service lets you add geofencing protection to your device that alerts you anytime one of the devices in your list steps out of the space that you assign for it.

Step 1:

Firstly, download and install the Prey Anti Theft: Find My Phone & Mobile Security app from Google Play.

Step 2: 

Then Open the Prey Anti Theft app.

Step 3:

Click on Go to Permissions.

Step 4: 

Allow the app permissions to access Phone, Location, Camera, and Storage by clicking on Allow.

As you’re using the app to track your phone when it’s lost or stolen, we recommend you to choose to Allow all the time when the app requests access to the location.

Step 5:

On the next page, enable Prey Device admin access by clicking Go to Permissions.

Step 6:

Choose Activate this device admin app.

While doing this, you will be taken to the app’s sign-in screen.

Step 7:

Click on Don’t have an account?

Step 8:

When you finish the account form, click on Create Account and then click Send icon to receive an activation mail on your email address.

Step 9:

Activate your Prey account by clicking on the Activate My Account button that you receive over email.

Step 10:

Click on Continue.

Step 11:

Click on Login and enter your credentials. This password should be entered every time you quit the Prey app.

Here you will see the app’s home screen with the list of devices.

Step 12:

Click on the device, you wish to track.

Step 13:

Now locate your device by clicking Map and actions and on the next page, pressing Update location. Your location will now be tracked continuously.

Inside this page, you can also do the following actions to help you track your device better:

• Sounding an alarm:

Click on the speaker icon on the right and press Confirm to ring your device and check if your phone is nearby.

• Alerting the device with a custom message:

Upon clicking on the ‘!’ icon, you will allow crafting a personal message to show up on your lost smartphone. You can also include your name and contact number so that the person who searches your phone can reach you. Add the personalized messaged inside the text box and click on Confirm. Clicking on Double Notification will run a full-screen alert when the device is unlocked.

• Locking your phone:

Also, you can protect your lost device from getting access to your data by locking it. This can be done by clicking the lock icon on the right bar, creating a password and clicking on Confirm.

• Retrieving files from your phone:

Prey has one additional feature over Google’s Find my phone it helps you to restore data from your lost device. Click on the folder icon on the right bar and follow the instructions to recover files through a download link that’s sent to your email ID.

• Wiping data from the device:

By clicking on the trash icon on the right-hand bar and hitting confirm, you can remotely clear the data from your lost device. You can also select to erase your external SD card and factory reset your phone by checking the respective boxes.

Conclusion:

All done! For further queries and questions let us know in the comment section below!

Till then! Keep Smiling 🙂

Also Read: Find Signed In Devices on Google with your Google ID