How to locate your phone using Google
Most Android phones now come with Find My Device (formerly Android Device Manager) built in. This service will automatically track your phone’s location, so if it ever goes missing you can hop on your laptop or a friend’s phone and find its last known location, ring your phone if it’s nearby and you need a hint, or lock and/or erase your phone if you fear it has been stolen.
Should you happen to lose your phone, you can locate its whereabouts by logging into your Google account from any computer or even from another phone.
- Launch a web browser from a phone, tablet, or computer.
- Navigate to android.com/find.
- If necessary, enter your email address and password just as though you were checking your email. If you have 2-step verification set up on your Google account (and you most certainly should), you’ll need to complete that process as well.
With Find My Device open, you have three options to choose from:
- You can play a sound so that it makes noise (even if you had it on silent). This feature is helpful if the map indicates that the phone is within earshot and you simply can’t see it.
- You can secure your device so that the finder can’t access your home screen. This feature is most helpful if your phone wasn’t previously secured with a passcode or a fingerprint sensor.
- You can erase your phone. This is the best option if you know for certain that you aren’t likely to retrieve your phone.