To find, lock, or erase your lost Android phone or tablet, or Wear OS watch, Google provides the Find My Device feature. Find My Device is automatically turned on if a Google Account is added to the lost device. There are some prerequisites to find, lock, or erase an Android phone. These are:
- Device turned on
- Signed in to Google Account
- Connected to mobile data or Wi-Fi
- Visible on Google Play
- Location turned on
- Find My Device turned on
Remotely find, lock, or erase:
- Visit android.com/find.
- Sign in to your Google Account.
- Your phone (device) will be displayed on Google Find My Device page.
- Click on the lost phone display at the top of the screen, if you have more than one phone.
- Sign in with a Google Account that’s on the main profile, if you have more than one user profile on your lost device.
- A notification will be received by the lost phone.
- The current location of the map will be displayed on the map.
- The location might not be accurate. It is an approximate data.
- The last known location, if available will be displayed, if the phone cannot be found.
- You can now select the operation to perform.
- Play sound: Click on the “PLAY SOUND” to select this option. It rings the phone at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it is set to silent or vibrate.
- Lock: Click on “SECURE DEVICE” to select this option. It locks the phone with your PIN, pattern, or password. You can set a new lock, if not available. You can also add a message or phone number to the lock screen, which will help someone to return it.
- Erase: Click on “ERASE DEVICE” to select this option. It permanently deletes all the data on your phone. The data available on the SD card might not be deleted. The Find My Device stops working on the phone, after erasing all the data of your device. The Google Account password will be required to use your device again, in case you find your phone (device) after erasing.
