How To Track Your Android Phone 2021
Find your phone using Google’s Find My Device (formerly Android Device Manager)
Requirements:
Your device is connected to your Google account.
Your device has access to the internet.
Allowed Find My Device to locate your device (turned on by default). This can change in the Google Settings app.
Allowed Find My Device to lock your device and erase its data (turned off by default).
Find My Device is Google’s official and easy-to-use tool to track your lost Android phone or tablet. The best thing about it is that you don’t need to install an app to track your devices. The only requirement is that your Android phone is connected to your Google account, turned on, and connected to the internet. Then, all you need to do is visit the Find My Device website while logged into your Google Account. Once the site is loaded, it will automatically try to track down your lost phone. If you have several Android devices registered, make sure the right one is chosen in the menu.
In a recent update, Google implemented some of the features into their search results page. This means that you’re able to quickly locate any registered Android device right from the search results. For example, by using the search phrase “where is my phone,” Google displays a little map above the search results in which it will try to find your lost Android phone. Once found, you can let it ring by clicking on “Ring
By using it, you can track your registered Android devices, let your phone ring and wipe your phone’s data (which has to be enabled on your phone).
If there’s no laptop around when you lose your device, you can also use someone else’s phone to track it. Instead of using the mobile browser, you can also use the Find My Device app.
You can sign in using guest mode and your Google account credentials. Now you should be able to track your lost device, let it ring, or wipe its data.
Are you not able to locate your lost Android phone this way? This can happen for several reasons. The one you should hope for is that your device is simply not connected to the internet or turned off. In that case, simply keep trying to track it until it (hopefully) connects to Google’s services again.
Use Google Timeline to find your phone even if it’s turned off or the battery is dead
Requirements:
1. Your device is connected to your Google account.
2. Your device has or had access to the internet (before it was turned off).
3. Location Reporting and Location History need to be activated on your gadget (can be done in the Google Settings app on your device).
Unlike the Find Your Device tool, the Timeline feature of Google Maps doesn’t actually focus on tracking down a lost phone. Instead, you can use your location data for many different things, such as looking up past travel routes. However, it is also an excellent way to locate your lost phone. As mentioned, if your Android device is turned off, you can use the location history data to identify the last recorded location. This means, even if your phone’s battery ran out, you might still be able to find it.
Here’s what you need to do. First, go to the Your Timeline (former Google Maps Location History) and ensure the current day is selected in the calendar. Another way is to go straight to Google Maps, opening the sidebar and selecting ‘Timeline.’
On the left sidebar, you can see a complete timeline of that day, including the names of all recorded locations. On the right, you can see all the places visualized on a map.
Other than Find My Device, which also uses GPS for tracking, Your Timeline only uses cell tower IDs and Wi-Fi location detection to collect location data. This means that the accuracy can vary significantly. The advantage of Timeline is the ability to track your phone’s location frequently over a while. So even if someone stole it, you could identify often visited places, which could be the thief’s home or workplace. That might help you and the authorities to catch the person.
Use Google Photos location info to locate your phone.
Requirements:
1. Your device has access to the internet.
2. Enabled ‘Backup & Sync’ option in Google Photos.
3. Someone needs to take pictures with your lost device.
In case your device actually got stolen, you might be able to find it using the backup and sync feature of Google Photos. If you activate this option in the app, all images taken with your phone will be uploaded to your Google Photos account. Why is that good news? Well, not just the image but also the location where it was taken is uploaded. So, in case the thief didn’t log out of your Google Account and tried out the camera on your phone, there might be some new images popping up in Google Photos. Obviously, this only works if your lost phone has an active internet connection and if you gave your photos app permission to use your location. So, please be careful if you can identify the location of your lost Android phone, which might very well be the thief’s home address. Don’t try to find it yourself! Instead, use that information and call your local authorities to take it from there.
Assuming all those requirements are met, what do you need to do? Here it is, step by step:
Visit photos.google.com and log in using your Google Account in which your Android device is logged into.
Check if any pictures were taken after your device was stolen.
If yes, then click on the image.
Now, click on the info icon in the top right corner.
In the appearing sidebar, you can now see the image’s information, including the location where it was taken.
Find your lost phone using these third-party tools
Use Samsung’s Find My Mobile
Requirements:
1. Your device has access to the internet.
2. You need to have a Samsung account and your device registered with it.
Find my mobile needs to be set up on your Samsung phone (enabling remote controls).
For this to work, you need a Samsung account and register your device before you lose it. So try to remember if you did that.
You did? Awesome. Head over and sign in to the Find my mobile website. Check the left sidebar and make sure that your device is connected to your account. Now, all you need to do is select ‘Locate my device’ in the sidebar and click on the locate button. If your device is online and remote controls are enabled, you should see its approximate location. Find my mobile also allows you to do other things such as locking your device, letting it ring with a message, and wiping its data.
I hope you are reading this just out of pure interest and not because you lost your phone! But if that’s really the case, I genuinely hope that this article will help you track it down. Either way, I recommend installing a good tracking app BEFORE your phone vanishes. There are many such apps on the Google Play Store find the one that suits you.
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