If you lose your phone, you can find, lock, or erase it. If you've added a Google Account to your phone, Find My Device is automatically turned on. Learn how to make sure that your device can be found if it gets lost.
To secure or erase an Android device, make sure the device:
- Has power
- Is connected to mobile data or Wi-Fi
- Is signed in to a Google Account
- Has Find My Device turned on
- Is visible on Google Play
Find, secure, or erase a device remotely
- On a browser, go to android.com/find.
- Sign in to your Google Account.
- If you have more than one device: At the top of the sidebar, select the lost device.
- If your lost device has more than one user profile: Sign in with a Google Account that's on the main or personal profile.
- You can’t use Find My Device for work profiles. Learn more about work profiles.
- The lost device gets a notification.
- On the map, you'll get info about where the device is.
- The location is approximate and may not be accurate.
- If your device can't be found, you may find its last known location, if available.
- If you get a prompt, tap Enable lock & erase.
- Select what you want to do:
- Play sound: Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it's set to silent or vibrate.
- Secure device: Locks your device with your PIN or password. If you don't have a lock, you can set one. To help someone return your device to you, you can add a message or device number to the lock screen.
- Erase device: Permanently deletes all data on your device, but may not delete SD cards. After you erase, Find My Device won't work on the device.
Tip: If you've linked your phone to Google, you can find or ring it by searching for find my phone on google.com.
Use the Find My Device app
- On another Android phone or tablet, open the Find My Device app
.
- If you don’t have the app: Get it on Google Play.
- If you don’t have your Android device: On a browser, go to Find My Device.
- Sign in.
- If your own device is lost: Tap Continue as [your name].
- If you're helping a friend: Tap Sign in as guest and let your friend sign in.
- From the listed devices, select the device you want to locate. The lost device gets a notification.
- You may be prompted to provide the lock screen PIN for the Android device you want to locate. This applies to Android 9 or higher. If the device you want to find doesn’t use a PIN, or runs Android 8 or lower, you may be prompted for your Google password.
- On the map, you get information about the device’s location.
- To navigate to a lost device, tap Get directions.
- Your location is estimated from sources like:
- GPS: We use satellites to know your location up to around 20 meters. When you're inside buildings or underground, the GPS is sometimes inaccurate.
- Wi-Fi: The location of nearby Wi-Fi networks helps us know where you are.
- Cell towers: Your connection to mobile data can be accurate up to a few thousand meters.
- Learn how to improve your location’s accuracy.
- Your location is estimated from sources like:
- If the device is within 10 meters, you can get a shape that fills in as you get closer to your device: Tap Find nearby. This may take a few seconds to update.
- The radius displayed around your location pin is an indication of our confidence in location accuracy.
- If your device’s current location can't be found, you may still find its last known location, if available.
- To navigate to a lost device, tap Get directions.
- Select what you want to do:
- Play sound: Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it's set to silent or vibrate.
- To play a sound, wireless headphones need to be turned on and earbuds need to be outside the case.
- Secure device: Locks your device with your PIN or password. If you don't have a lock, you can set one. To help someone return your device to you, you can add a message or phone number to the lock screen.
- To delete a device you can’t find: Follow the steps to erase, reset, or remove your device.
- Play sound: Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it's set to silent or vibrate.
Find your device with your Wear OS watch
If you lose your Android phone or tablet that’s connected to a Wear OS smartwatch, you can find it with your watch. Learn how to find your phone with your watch.