If you happen to lose your phone after a wild night out, or just can’t find your tablet for the life of you, you’d be pleased to know that Find My Android is a thing. Well… Kinda.
For years now, Apple users have thankfully had access to the beloved Find My iPhone system to locate their missing devices, but Android users haven’t been so lucky. However, there is a work-around if you’re logged in to a Google account on your device.
Introducing: Find My Device.
What Is Find My Device?
Find My Device is Google’s tracking website for Android users. Essentially, it’s Google’s answer to the Apple version we’ve all been using for years. But, you know, for Android users.
Before You Start
Before we get into how to find your android device, you need to make sure you’re logged in to your Google account on every device you own. Go on, do it now. Do it before you finish reading this article because nothing else can help you if you’re not logged in.
You’ve been warned.
How To Find My Android
- Open the Find My Device website. You can do this on any device except the one you’ve lost, obviously.
- Sign in with the same Google account details you used with your now-missing device.
- Now you should be logged in. On the left of the page, you’ll see a list of devices you’re signed into.
- Click the missing device. You should now see the device’s location on the map.
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What If I Still Can’t Find My Android?
If you can’t find your Android device using the map alone, don’t fret. The Find My Device website offers three handy options:
Play Sound – You device will ring for five minutes. But unlike getting your friend to call your missing phone, it’ll ring even if its on silent.
Secure Device – Locks your device and signs out of your Google Account. You can also set it up to display a phone number on the lock screen so whoever finds your phone can contact you. (Signing out of your Google Account this way doesn’t disable Find My Device).
Erase Device – This is an absolute last resort. Basically, if you can’t find your device and all hope is lost, you can remotely issue a factory reset so whoever finds your missing Android device won’t have access to your data. If you do this, Find My Device will no longer work.
But let’s hope you never have to use this!