Use the Personal Safety app to save and share your emergency info. Your phone can contact emergency services automatically in some countries and with certain carriers.
Prepare for an emergency
Important: Anyone who picks up your phone can view your lock screen message and emergency information even with your phone locked. You can turn off this setting in the Personal Safety app.
Use the Personal Safety appAdd the Personal Safety app on a Pixel 3a or earlier
- Check that you have the latest Android software. Learn how to check your Android version.
- Go to Settings
About phone.
- Tap Emergency information.
- In the banner at the top of the screen, tap Update.
About phone.If you don’t notice the banner, check if the Personal Safety app is already on your phone. Be sure it’s updated to the latest version in the Play Store.
What you can do
- On Pixel 3a and earlier, even if you haven't added the app to your phone: You can sign in with your Google Account, add emergency contacts, and list medical info.
- When the app is installed: You can use Emergency SOS, Emergency sharing, Safety check, Crisis alerts, and Car crash detection. Car crash detection is available on Pixel 3 and later only.
What you need
The Personal Safety app requires Location Services and permissions to be turned on. Location Sharing is only available in certain countries and for some user types. Learn more about Location Sharing.
You can share your real-time location with others from your devices through 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 info could include:
- Your current or previous locations.
- Your current activities, like driving or walking.
- Your device specifics, like battery life or GPS connections.
- Your call status, like “started a call” or “called local emergency number.”
- Your places, like home, work, or destinations.
You can add personal emergency info to your phone's lock screen, like your blood type, allergies, and medications.
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
.
- If asked, sign in to your Google Account.
- Tap Your info.
- Add your emergency info.
- For Medical information:
- Tap Medical information.
- To add info like allergies or medications, tap the item in the list you'd like to update.
- For Emergency contacts:
- Tap Emergency contacts
- Tap Emergency contacts
- For Medical information:
Tips:
- To show your emergency info when your screen is locked, tap Allow access to emergency info
Show when locked.
- Set up a SIM card or eSIM with your phone. Otherwise, your phone can’t text your emergency contact later. Learn how to insert a SIM card.
- If you don't have the Personal Safety app on your phone, learn how to add the app.
Show when locked. If your phone detects you’ve been in a severe car crash, it can call emergency services automatically, like 911 in the US, and share your location.
Important:
- Your phone must have a SIM for Car crash detection to work. Learn how to add a SIM.
- On Pixel 3 and later, Car crash detection is available in the following languages: Danish, Dutch, English, French, French (Canada), Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish. For the following countries or regions: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK, and the US.
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Features.
- Scroll to "Car crash detection."
- Tap Set up.
- When asked to share your location, tap Allow while app is in use.
- When asked to share your microphone and physical activity, tap Allow.
How Car crash detection works
To detect a possible severe car crash, Pixel 3, 4, and later phones can use info like your phone’s location, motion sensors, and nearby sounds. Car crash detection requires location, physical activity, and microphone permissions to work. If your phone detects a car crash, it can call emergency services for you. This call uses Android’s Emergency Location Service and may transmit info about where you are and what happened. Learn how to manage your Pixel phone’s permissions.
Your phone may not be able to detect all crashes. High-impact activities could also trigger calls to emergency services. In some cases, your Pixel phone might not be able to call emergency services. For example, your phone might be connected to a weak mobile network or in an ongoing call.
If you’re in an emergency situation, you can use your phone to trigger emergency actions like calling for help, telling contacts where you are, and recording video.
Important:
- Your phone must have a SIM for Car crash detection to work. Learn how to add a SIM.
- Emergency SOS doesn’t work in airplane mode or when Battery Saver is on.
- Emergency SOS is available on Pixel 3 and later.
Turn Emergency SOS on
- Open your phone’s Personal Safety app
- Tap Features.
- Scroll to "Use Emergency SOS."
- Tap Set up.
- Decide which emergency actions should trigger when you use Emergency SOS. Turn on the actions you want to use:
- 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 Number to call. Then, 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 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.
Turn Emergency SOS off
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Features.
- Turn off Use Emergency SOS.
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Display
- Enter your message, like info that would help someone return your phone if you lost it.
- Tap Save.
You can turn alert types on or off, find past alerts, and control sound and vibration.
- On your phone, open the Settings app.
- Tap Notifications
- Choose how often you want to receive alerts and which settings you want to turn on.
Get help during an emergency
Get help after a car crash (Pixel 3, 4 & later only)Important: Car crash detection doesn’t work in Airplane mode, or when Battery Saver is on. Car crash detection only works in the country of your phone's SIM, not when roaming.
If your phone determines you got in a severe car crash, and if you turned on Car crash detection previously:
- Your phone will vibrate, ring loudly, and ask if you need help, both aloud and on your phone screen.
- Respond within 60 seconds:
- To call emergency services: Say “Emergency” or tap the emergency button twice. Your phone will turn on speakerphone automatically. Learn more about emergency calling.
- To cancel the call: Say “Cancel” or tap I am ok. Your phone won’t make an emergency call.
- If you don’t respond: Your phone will automatically turn on speakerphone, try to call emergency services, say that a car crash happened, and share your device’s approximate location.
The message will repeat, but you can speak over it. To stop the message and stay on the call, tap Cancel. Learn more about emergency calling.
Important: Emergency SOS doesn’t work in airplane mode or when Battery Saver is on.
If you’re in an emergency situation, you can use your phone to trigger emergency actions like calling for help, telling contacts where you are, and recording video.
- On your phone, press the power button 5 times or more.
- A 5-second countdown begins before emergency actions are started. If you triggered Emergency SOS by mistake, you can cancel the emergency actions during the countdown.
- After the 5-second countdown, emergency actions are started depending on your settings. If you turned on emergency sharing and video recording, these actions can be started while your call is placed to emergency services. Learn more about recording video in an emergency.
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/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 using this feature, including any applicable state and federal video recording or wiretapping laws. By using this feature, you acknowledge and accept the aforementioned. Learn more about our Terms & Conditions.
How emergency recording works
With emergency recording, you can still use your phone to do other tasks like share your location with emergency contacts and get help from local emergency services.
Note: If you open another app that uses your camera, emergency recording will be paused. When emergency recording is paused, your recording will show a gray screen. To go back to your emergency recording, open the Personal 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 on auto share, a link to your video will be automatically shared with all of your emergency contacts after each recording. If you don’t have Emergency Contacts set up, your video will not be shared with anyone. If you decide you don’t want to share the video, you have 15 seconds after recording to cancel sharing. After you finish recording, the time it takes to upload and share your video depends on your internet connection. Any emergency contact you share with can download a copy of your video.
Only one sharing link per video can be active 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:
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Your info
- Next to a video, tap More
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. Excessive sharing is defined as more than 120 visits to the unique sharing link.
How auto backup works
Emergency recordings are automatically uploaded to the cloud. This helps protect your data if your phone is lost or destroyed during an emergency. Uploading to the cloud requires an internet connection and may cost money if you are on a metered network. Uploaded emergency recordings can be managed any time with internet connection. To manage your videos:
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Your info
- Next to a video, tap More
Tip: If you delete a file, it’s permanently deleted from your Google Account and this can’t be undone.
- On a locked screen, swipe up.
- Tap Emergency
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
- On your phone, open the Settings app.
- Tap Location
- 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 extra 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. Google uses this info to analyze how well ELS works and 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.
You can let your emergency contacts view 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.
Tip: If Location Sharing is unavailable in your country, a message will appear in the Personal Safety app.
To use Emergency sharing, you must:
- Have at least one emergency contact.
- Grant the Personal Safety app "While in Use" location permissions.
- Have an internet connection and Location Services turned on.
Start Emergency sharing
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Emergency sharing.
- Select who you want to share your real-time location with.
- You can add an optional message.
- Tap Share.
- Tap the notification banner to view the details of your Emergency sharing.
Stop Emergency sharing
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap the emergency sharing information.
- Tap Stop.
- You can add a note to explain why you’ve ended the emergency share.
Tip: Emergency sharing will automatically end after 24 hours.
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 give "While in Use" location permissions to the Personal Safety app.
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Safety check.
- Select your Reason and Duration. You can set the check for 15 minutes to 8 hours into the future.
- Then, tap Next.
- Select your contacts.
- Tap Start.
If you turn on notifications for your emergency contacts, they’ll get a text with:
- Your name.
- The duration of your safety check.
- A reason, if you provided one.
Mark yourself safe
When it’s time to check in, you’ll get an alert for 60 seconds before Emergency sharing begins. If you mark yourself safe, the Emergency sharing will be canceled. You can stop Safety check at any time through the notification. If you don’t choose one of the options within 60 seconds, Emergency sharing will begin.
- When you get the notification, choose one of the options:
- I’m OK. Don’t Share.
- Start sharing now. This will end future safety checks.
- Call 911.
- If your phone is locked, you may need to unlock it.
If your phone turns off or loses signal, Safety check will remain active. The check will start Emergency sharing with your last known location at the scheduled check-in time.
When Emergency sharing starts, Google will send your emergency contacts a text including:
- Your name
- A link to view your real-time location in Google Maps
- Your remaining battery percentage
- A message, if you provided one
You can stop Emergency sharing and Safety check manually, or mark yourself safe. When they stop, Google sends another text to your contacts to let them know your Safety check has ended.
Crisis alerts are available in all countries and languages. If your phone is set to a language different from the local language, the alert may show up in your current location's official language instead of your set language.
Turn Crisis alerts on or off
- Open your phone's Personal Safety app
- Tap Features
- 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 Personal Safety app will notify you. Google posts crisis alerts based on various factors, like internet connectivity in the affected area, official info from governments and other authorities, and the impact on the ground. Alerts are typically available in the primary languages of the affected area and English. Learn more about crisis alerts.
You can quickly dial emergency services while on your phone, even when it’s locked.
Set up an emergency dialer
Choose connection options with emergency services in the Personal Safety app :
- Fast Emergency Dialer (FED) lets you quickly call for help with a swipe on a slider. Emergency numbers for your area are listed automatically.
- Traditional Emergency Dialer (TED) shows a dialpad that you can use to dial emergency numbers.
Pixel phones are set to use FED automatically where it’s available. Learn about FED availability.
Fast Emergency Dialer features
- Quick access: To call an emergency number with one action, use the slider.
- Automatic emergency numbers: Your phone finds emergency numbers automatically, even when you travel.
- Multiple emergency numbers: Your phone finds available numbers for your area, like Police, Fire, or medical services. Use the slider for the emergency service you need.
How to use Fast Emergency Dialer
With the power button (Android 11 and earlier and Android 12 on Pixel 5 and earlier):
- Hold the Power button for 5 seconds.
- Tap Emergency.
- In the emergency menu, use the slider.
With the power and volume buttons (default on Android 12 and Pixel 6 and later):
- Press the Power button and the Volume up button at the same time.
- Tap Emergency.
- In the emergency menu, use the slider.
Fast Emergency Dialer availability
Important: FED isn’t available in all regions or areas. Your carrier and other circumstances can limit FED and its availability, even in covered areas.
When FED isn’t available: Your phone automatically uses TED, which displays a dialpad you can use to dial emergency numbers. When FED isn't available, your emergency dialer settings don’t change.
Make assisted emergency calls
When you dial an emergency number on a Pixel phone (like 911 in the US), you'll find an "Emergency Number" screen with info and features to help during the emergency.
- Most emergency operators should know these features (you can revert to a normal voice call)
- No internet connection needed
- No set-up needed
You can read your location from your screen to the emergency operator. Depending what your phone can detect, you could find:
- Full street address
- Plus code (like, "CWC8+JH")
- Plus codes are an easy way to state longitude and latitude.
- Emergency operators recognize them.
- Longitude and latitude (like, "37.4216105,-122.0857449")
- Map
Important: This feature is available in only Australia, France, Italy, Taiwan, the UK, and the US.
To alert an emergency operator without speaking, tap either Medical, Fire, or Police.
Your phone will stay silent. But the emergency operator will hear:
- That this is an automated voice service
- The kind of help you need
- Your location (Australia, UK, and US only)
- Your name (if available from your set-up Emergency Information or other on-device sources)
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
California, Oregon & Washington
Greece & New Zealand
Turn earthquake alerts on or off
- Open your phone’s Settings app.
- Tap Safety & emergency
- Turn Earthquake alerts on or off.