Here’s What to Do if You Lose Your Phone

Key takeaways

• Set up phone tracking in advance so you can locate a missing device quickly.
• Enable features like offline finding and last location to expand recovery options.
• Use lost mode to lock your device and share contact details securely.

Summary

Smartphone tracking tools can help you recover a lost phone, but only if they are set up ahead of time. Ed Baig explains how to enable built-in features on both iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, including Find My iPhone and Find My Mobile. Once activated, these tools let you locate your phone from another device, play a sound if it is nearby or place it in lost mode to protect your data. Taking these simple steps now can make it much easier to find your phone or safeguard your information if it goes missing.

The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Full transcript

[0:00:00] Ever put your phone down and then poof, it’s gone?

[0:00:04] Here’s what to do if you lose your phone.

[0:00:08] Fortunately, there is a way to digitally track your phone, but

[0:00:12] it comes with a crucial catch.

[0:00:14] You have to set it up before any of this happens.

[0:00:16] That means like now, like right after this video.

[0:00:20] On an iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, then Find My,

[0:00:26] and turn on Find My iPhone.

[0:00:30] While you’re there, also turn on Find My network and Send Last Location.

[0:00:36] That way, even if your phone is off or the battery dies, it can still be located.

[0:00:42] On a Samsung Galaxy, go to Settings, then Security and privacy, choose Lost

device

[0:00:50] protection, then select Find My Mobile.

[0:00:54] Turn on Allow this phone to be found, as well as Send last

[0:00:58] location and Offline finding.

[0:01:03] Once this is set up, at any time you can log in from another device, like a

[0:01:09] laptop, tablet or even a friend’s phone, and see exactly where your phone is.

[0:01:14] If it’s nearby, like sitting on a shelf in the store you were in, you can make

[0:01:19] it play a sound so you can find it.

[0:01:21] If it’s far away, hundreds of miles down the highway, living a new

[0:01:26] life, you can put it in Lost Mode.

[0:01:30] That locks your phone, protects your personal information and lets

[0:01:34] you display a message with a phone number, so if a good human finds

[0:01:37] it, they can return it, because yes, those good humans still exist.

[0:01:43] So what are you waiting for?

[0:01:45] Set it up now.

[0:01:47] Then, for more tech advice, go to aarp.org/techguru