Losing your phone is no joke. If your phone gets into the wrong hands or is stolen, your data could be compromised and used to access your online accounts and steal your identity. According to this report, 1 in 10 cell phone owners are victims of phone theft. Of those, 68% of them were unable to get their phone back.
To avoid becoming another statistic, we’ve listed the essential tips to help you not lose your phone and find it if it does become lost.
Keep Your Phone Within Eyesight
Whether you are at home or in a public place, always keep your phone within your eyesight. If you always have eyes on it, there’s no chance of losing it accidentally or having it stolen from you in public. For example, if you are at a restaurant, make sure you put your phone right in front of you on the table.
Always Keep It Stored In The Same Place
Have a certain place you always keep your phone. For at-home, some common places you could put your phone include, on your kitchen table or night table. While in public, make sure to place it in your pocket, attach it to your person, or store it in a bag.
Have A Phone Case That Stands Out
Having a phone case that stands out will help you spot it in case you ever misplace it. If your phone case is unique and not generic, phone thieves may be less likely to steal it as well.
Always Have Your Phone Volume On
How many times have you just misplaced your phone at home? Often, a simple solution is to call it so it can be found. For this to work, you must have your phone volume on and ensure it is not set to silent or vibrate.
Make Sure Your Phone Wi-Fi Is On
If you use any built-in phone tracking methods or third-party tracking apps, you will likely need your Wi-Fi enabled. Otherwise, these methods may not work for finding your phone.
Enable Phone Tracking
Android phones and iPhones today come with ways to easily track the device’s GPS location. For Android, you can use Google Find My Android. This can be accessed by visiting this site. To use this, you must properly connect it to your Google account. In order to retrieve your phone’s location, it must be turned on, be connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data, and have the location setting turned on.
For iPhones, you can use Find My, also commonly referred to as Find My iPhone. The set-up process is very easy, but must be done before the iPhone is stolen or lost. To find your iPhone, you just need to visit the Find My app on another Apple device or log in to your iCloud account and select Find iPhone.
Use A Third-Party Phone Tracking App
Besides Find My and Find My Android, you could use third-party phone GPS tracking apps from Google Play, the App Store, or online from legitimate sources. Usually, these apps enable users to do more than just track the phone’s location. They can also remotely lock the phone, wipe the phone’s data, back the data up, and monitor the phone’s activities.
Regularly Back-Up Your Phone Data
As a precaution, regularly back up your phone’s data in the event it is stolen, lost, or gets damaged. For iPhones, you can use iCloud backup. For Android phones, you need to set a backup Google account so the data can be uploaded to your Google Drive. You could also opt to use a third-party backup app/software as well.
Set-up Your Phone Screen Lock
For your phone’s security, you should set up one or multiple screen lock options. Usually, the options you can choose from include number pin, dot pattern, fingerprint scan, facial ID, and two-factor authentication. By doing this, criminals are likely to find it difficult to get into your stolen phone.
Know Your Phone’s IMEI Number
Every phone is assigned a unique IMEI number to help identify it. Knowing your phone’s IMEI can help in locating it. Usually, it can be found written on your physical phone or in the phone’s setting. If you know your IMEI number, you can easily input it into an IMEI tracking app to find your phone.
By following these tips, you will not have to worry about losing your phone ever again. If all else fails, ask your cell phone provider for help. However, if your cell phone was stolen by a thief, make sure to report it to your local police.
