Get help during an emergency with your Android phone

You can use the Personal Safety app to save and share your emergency info. Your phone can also contact emergency services automatically in some countries and regions and with certain carriers.

Important:

Prepare for an emergency

Important: Anyone who picks up your phone can view your lock screen message and emergency information even if your phone is locked. You can turn this setting off in the Safety app .

Use the Personal Safety app

The Personal Safety app is available on some Android devices. The app will show as the Personal Safety app in Play Store and in settings. But in your list of apps, it only shows as the Safety app .

Tip: To remove the Safety app from your list of apps, you can disable it. Learn how to disable apps that came with your Android phone.

Update your information in the Personal Safety app on your Android phone

  1. Check that you have the latest Android software. Learn how to check your Android version.
  2. On your phone, go to Settings and tap Safety & emergency.
  3. Tap Open Personal Safety.
  4. Fill in your information.

Tip: If you don't notice the banner, check if the Personal Safety app is already on your phone.

What you can do

  • On Android 12 and earlier, if the Personal Safety app is not installed on your phone: You can sign in with your Google Account, add emergency contacts, and list medical information.
  • When the Safety app is installed: You can use Emergency SOS, emergency sharing, safety check, and crisis alerts.

What you need

Some Personal Safety app features require Location Services and permissions to be turned on, such as emergency sharing, car crash detection and crisis alerts. For some user types, location sharing is available in certain countries and regions only. Learn more about location sharing.

You can share your real-time location with others from your devices with location sharing. When you share your location with someone, that person can view your name, photo, and real-time location across Google products, including Google Maps. Your shared location information could include:

  • Your current or previous locations
  • Your current activities, like driving or walking
  • Your device specifics, like battery life or GPS connections
  • Your places, like home, work, or destinations
Add emergency info to the Personal Safety app
You can add personal emergency info to your phone's lock screen, like your blood type, allergies, and medications.
  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. Sign in to your Google Account.
  3. Tap Settings .
  4. Add your emergency info.
    • For Medical information:
      • Tap Medical information.
      • To add info like blood type, allergies, or medications, tap the item in the list you want to update.
    • For Emergency contacts:
      • Tap Emergency contacts and then Add contact and choose the existing contact you want to add.
Tips:
  • To show your emergency info when your screen is locked, tap Show when device is locked and then Show when locked.
  • If you don't have a SIM card or eSIM on your phone, you may be able to place emergency calls, but you won't be able to call your emergency contacts. Learn how to insert a SIM card.
Turn Emergency SOS on
Important: Available on Android 12 or later.
If you're in an emergency situation, you can use your phone to trigger emergency actions like calling for help, alerting your contacts of your location, and recording video.
  1. If you haven't yet, add a SIM to your phone. Learn how to add a SIM.
  2. On your phone, open the Settings app.
  3. Tap Safety & emergency and then Emergency SOS.
  4. Turn Use Emergency SOS on.
    • You can also turn Play alarm sound on to play a loud sound when Emergency SOS is starting.
  5. Decide which emergency actions should trigger when you use Emergency SOS. Turn the actions you want to use on.
    • Call emergency services: Dial local emergency number. For regions with more than one emergency number, the police number is the default. To change which number is dialed, tap Call emergency number, enter a new number, and tap Save.
    • Share info with emergency contacts: Share real-time location and updates with emergency contacts. Learn more about emergency sharing.
    • Record emergency video: Record video to share with emergency contacts, or to save and back up.
      • Auto share: After backup, you can automatically share a link to download your video with emergency contacts. You'll have the option to cancel sharing when you’re done recording.
Put a message on your lock screen
  1. On your phone, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Display.
  3. Under "Lock display," tap Lock screen and then Add text on lock screen.
  4. Enter your message, like info that would help someone return your phone if you lost it.
  5. Tap Save.
Control emergency broadcast notifications
Important: You can use emergency broadcast notifications to manage certain emergency messages, like disaster warnings, threat notifications, and AMBER alerts.

You can turn alert types on or off, find past alerts, and control sound and vibration.

  1. On your phone, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Notifications and then Wireless emergency alerts.
  3. Choose how often you want to receive alerts and which settings you want to turn on.

Control monthly tests

You can change the monthly test setting in "Developer options." Other settings on your phone could change when you turn "Developer options" on. Learn more about Developer options.
  1. On your phone, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap About phone.
  3. Tap Build number 7 times.
  4. To turn Developer options on, enter your PIN, password, or pattern.
  5. In your phone's Settings app, tap Notifications and then Wireless emergency alerts.
  6. Turn Test alerts on or off.
To turn "Developer options" off, in your phone's Settings app, tap System and then Developer options.

Get help during an emergency

Use Emergency SOS to call for help, alert your contacts & record videos

Important: You won't be able to share your real-time location with your emergency contacts unless you have a Wi-Fi or mobile network internet connection.

If you're in an emergency situation, you can use your phone to trigger emergency actions like calling for help, alerting your contacts of your location, and recording video. When Battery Saver is turned on, emergency location sharing may be severely limited.

  1. On your phone, press the Power button 5 times or more.
    • A 5 second countdown begins before emergency actions are started. To cancel Emergency SOS, swipe Cancel to the right during the countdown.
  2. After the 5 second countdown, emergency actions are started depending on your settings.
Record video during an emergency

How Emergency recording works

You can still use your phone to do other tasks like to share your location with emergency contacts and get help from local emergency services while Emergency recording is ongoing.

Important:

  • Video recording is designed for you to record emergency situations and related events to improve your personal safety. In addition to our Privacy Policy, when you use the features of our products to record, upload, and/or share video and audio content, such as recordings of an emergency situation, we may log use of the application, sharing with emergency contacts, and video link views and downloads.
  • Recordings of emergency events may be disturbing to your emergency contacts and may cause those persons distress.
  • Please use the video sharing feature carefully. It is your responsibility to ensure full compliance with the law when you use this feature, which includes any applicable state and federal video recording or wiretapping laws.
  • When you use this feature, you acknowledge and accept the statements above. Learn about our Terms and Conditions.

If you open another app that uses your camera, Emergency recording will be paused. When Emergency recording is paused, your recording shows a gray screen. To go back to your Emergency recording, open the Safety app again or tap the notification at the top of your screen.

Emergency recording can record and save video up to 45 minutes. The quality of the video is about 10 MB per minute.

How auto share works

If you turn auto share on, a link to your video is automatically shared with all of your emergency contacts after each recording. If you don't have emergency contacts set up, your video won't be shared with anyone. If you decide you don't want to share the video, you have 15 seconds after recording to cancel sharing. Sharing is dependent on your internet connection and there might be a gap between when your recording is finished and when video is uploaded and shared. Any emergency contact you share your video to can download a copy of it.

There can only be one sharing link active per video at a given time. Each link created has a 7-day expiration timer that is meant to protect your privacy. You can deactivate a link at any time. To refresh the expiration timer, deactivate the existing link and create a new link.

To deactivate a sharing link:

  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. At the top left, tap Settings and then Your videos.
  3. Next to a video, tap More and then Delete.
  4. When a dialog box appears, tap Delete.

Emergency recording is intended for personal use in emergency situations to keep you safe. Google will automatically disable an active shared link if it's being shared excessively.

How auto backup works

Emergency recordings are automatically uploaded to the cloud to help prevent data loss if your phone is lost or destroyed during an emergency situation. Uploading to the cloud requires an internet connection and may cost money if you're on limited data access. Uploaded emergency recordings can be managed any time with an internet connection.

To manage your videos:

  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. At the top left, tap Settings and then Your videos.
  3. Next to a video, tap More and then Share or Delete.
    • If you delete a file, it's permanently deleted from your Google Account and this action can't be undone.
Find emergency info
  1. On a locked screen, swipe up.
  2. Tap Emergency And then View emergency info.
Send your location automatically

To help responders find you quickly, your phone's location can be sent when you dial or text an emergency number, like when you dial 911 in the US or 112 in Europe.

If Android Emergency Location Service (ELS) works in your country or region and on your mobile network, and you haven't turned ELS off, your phone will automatically send its location to first responders through ELS. If ELS is off, your mobile carrier might still send the device's location during an emergency call or text.

Turn emergency location service on or off

  1. On your phone, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Location and then Location services and then Emergency Location Service or Google Emergency Location Service.
  3. Turn Emergency Location Service or Google Emergency Location Service on or off.

How Emergency Location Service works

Your phone uses Emergency Location Service (ELS) only when you call or text an emergency number. 

If your phone has ELS turned on, ELS may use Google Location Services and other info to determine the most accurate location for your phone during an emergency call. ELS may also send additional info, like the language your device is set up with.

To help them locate and assist you, your phone makes this data available to authorized emergency response services. Emergency response services receive this data directly from your phone, not through Google.

After you complete a call or text during which ELS was active, your phone sends usage, analytics, and diagnostics data to Google via Google Play Services to analyze how well ELS works. Google doesn't receive any info that could identify you, including your location.

When you send your location with ELS, the process is different from when you share your location with Google Maps. Learn more about Location Sharing with Google Maps.

Share your location with your emergency contacts
You can let your emergency contacts find your location and receive updates about where you are and your battery percentage. You must give the Personal Safety app permission to access your location.

To use emergency sharing, you'll need:

  • At least one emergency contact
  • To grant the Safety app "While in Use" location permissions
  • An internet connection with Location Services turned on

Start emergency sharing

  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. Tap Emergency sharing.
  3. Select who you want to share your real-time location with.
    • You can also add an optional message.
  4. Tap Share
    • You can tap the notification banner to view the details of your "Emergency sharing."

Tip: If location sharing is unavailable in your country or region, a message will appear in the Safety app.

Stop emergency sharing

  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. Tap Emergency sharing and then Stop.
    • You can add a note to explain why you've ended the emergency share.

Tip: Emergency sharing will automatically end after 24 hours.

Schedule a safety check
If you want your phone to check on you and let your emergency contacts know if anything is wrong, you can schedule a safety check. For example, you can use a safety check when you walk in an unfamiliar area or go to a party. You must grant "While in Use" location permissions to the Safety app.
  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. Tap Safety check.
  3. Select your Reason and Duration.
    • You can set the check at any duration for up to 24 hours.
  4. Tap Next.
  5. Select your contacts.
  6. Tap Turn on.

Tip: If you turn notifications on for your emergency contacts, they'll be notified when a safety check is scheduled and has ended.

Mark yourself safe

When it's time to check for your safety, you'll get an alert for 60 seconds before emergency sharing begins. If you mark yourself safe, the emergency share will be canceled. You can stop the safety check at any time through the notification. If you don't choose one of the options in 60 seconds, emergency sharing will begin.

  1. When you get the notification, choose one of the options:
    • I'm OK
    • Start sharing now
    • Call 911
  2. If your phone is locked, you might need to unlock it.

If your phone turns off or loses signal, the safety check will remain active and will start an emergency share with your last known location at the scheduled check-in time.

How emergency contacts are notified
When a safety check starts, if you turn notifications on for your emergency contacts, they get a text with your name, the duration of your safety check, and a reason, if you provided one. Later, if you start an emergency share manually or can't mark yourself as OK when your phone checks in, Google shares a link to view your real-time location and remaining battery percentage in Google Maps.
Emergency sharing and safety checks stop when you stop it or mark yourself safe. When they stop, Google sends another text to your contacts to let them know it ended.
Get crisis alerts
When you opt in to crisis alerts, you are notified in the Safety app about public emergencies or local crises, like natural disasters. Crisis alert notifications include a link to the Safety app's homepage where you can find extra information about the event.
Crisis alerts are available in all countries and regions and all languages. If your phone is set to a different language other than the local language, the alert may show up in the official language of your current location instead of your set language.

Turn crisis alerts on or off

  1. On your phone, open the Safety app .
  2. Tap Settings and then Crisis alerts.
  3. Turn Crisis alerts on or off.

How Google sends crisis alerts

Google manages crisis information from official local sources. If a crisis is posted that affects your location, the Safety app notifies you. Google posts crisis alerts based on various factors, like internet connectivity in the affected area, the availability of official content from governments and other authoritative organizations, and the impact on the ground. Alerts are typically available in the primary languages of the affected area and English. Learn about crisis alerts.

Find out about earthquakes in your area

Your phone can detect earthquakes in your area. To learn more about nearby earthquakes, open Google search and search for "earthquake in [your city or region]."

To stop your phone from contributing to earthquake detection, turn off Google Location Accuracy.

Get alerts for nearby earthquakes
Your phone can use your approximate location to send you alerts about nearby earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and above.

ShakeAlert

These earthquake alerts are based on data from ShakeAlert.

Android Earthquake Alerts System

These earthquake alerts are based on the Android Earthquake Alerts System.
Where the Android Earthquake Alerts System is active
  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Armenia
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia (Czech Republic)
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Iran
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kosovo
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Malaysia
  • Moldova
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Myanmar
  • Nepal
  • New Zealand
  • North Macedonia
  • Pakistan
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Philippines
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Solomon Islands
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Tajikistan
  • Thailand
  • Timor-Leste
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vanuatu
Turn earthquake alerts on or off
Important: To get alerts, you must have Wi-Fi or data turned on.
  1. Open your phone's Settings app.
  2. Tap Safety & emergency and then Earthquake alerts.
    • If you don't find Safety & emergency, tap Location and then Advanced and then Earthquake alerts.
  3. Turn Earthquake alerts on or off.
You might not get alerts for all earthquakes in your area. Occasionally, you may get an alert but not feel an earthquake in your location.

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