Lost Samsung smartphone? Here’s how to find it using Find My Mobile, Find My Device, and more

4 methods to find your lost Samsung smartphone

If calling your mobile number on the Samsung smartphone is not working, you can use the methods below to track it. There are up to four methods to find or locate your lost smartphone whether it is offline or online.

Through Find My Mobile

• Go to Samsung’s official SmartThings website on a phone or laptop
• Sign in to the website with the same Samsung account you used to log in to your phone
• From the menu on the left, select your lost device
• Wait for the website to show the last location of your Samsung phone
• You can track the smartphone in real time if it is online. Otherwise, you will only find its final location.
• If the battery reaches 20 percent and the “Send last location” feature has been enabled, the device will automatically send its location to the Find My Mobile server to notify you of the same
• Additionally, with the “Track location” feature enabled, the phone will provide location alerts at 15 minute intervals. In addition, the tracking history is kept in the records for
  seven days.

If the Samsung is lost or stolen offline and does not have internet access, Find My Mobile can still show its location, provided the Offline find feature is enabled. The latter uses other Samsung devices to create a chain using Bluetooth and accordingly alert you to its location.

Using Find My Device

If you haven’t enabled the Find My Mobile feature on your Samsung phone, you can use Google’s Find My Device service. Here’s how to start the search for your lost Samsung smartphone using Find My Device:

• To get started, head over to Google’s official Find My Device website or download the app on another Android phone
• Now sign in with the same Google account you added to your lost phone
• Once done, you will be able to see its location as the tool will automatically turn on location access and mobile data

That said, Find My Device does not yet have an offline tracking feature. However, it offers different options that can be done to ensure that the data inside the phone is not at risk. These include resetting the data, signing out of the Google account and playing a loud sound to easily determine its location when the device is nearby.

Using Galaxy Watch

If you have a Samsung Galaxy Watch and happen to lose or misplace your Samsung phone, the watch can help you recover the phone if it’s nearby. This method requires both devices to be paired before the wrong replacement. Here’s how:

• From your Galaxy Watch, swipe up to open the app drawer
• Find and select the SmartThings app, which is an icon with a blue magnifying glass
• Now tap on the ‘Start’ button and your phone will ring at full volume
• If you can’t hear the ring, it means the phone is switched off or not nearby

Using CEIR

The Central Equipment Identification Program (CEIR) is a government portal that allows people to track and block their lost or stolen phones. Use this method if your Samsung smartphone is really lost as it requires you to first register an FIR at the nearby police station. Once that’s done, here’s how you can use the CEIR portal to unblock your phone across all telecom operators in India.

• Go to the CEIR website
• Select the ‘Block Stolen / Lost Mobile’ button
• Now proceed to fill in the details such as the phone model, the place where it was lost, and personal information
• You will also be prompted to enter the police complaint number and upload a digital copy of it
• Once all the details have been entered in the form, submit and you will receive an Application ID which can later be used to check the status of your application and also to unblock the phone when found.

As long as the lost phone is forwarded, the police will be able to trace it through the IMEI number and will instruct all telecom operators to stop all communication services even if the SIM card is replaced with a new one .

FAQs

1. How can I enable Find My Phone on a Samsung smartphone?

• Open ‘Settings’ on your Samsung phone
• Select the ‘Security and privacy’ section and tap on ‘Find My Mobile’ option
• Now log in with your Samsung account, if not already and you will see the ‘Find Offline’ option
• Simply enable it and you are all set

2. Is it possible to find a lost Samsung phone if it is switched off?

In case the lost Samsung phone is turned off, it cannot be found using the Find My Mobile or Find My Device service.

3. Can I remotely lock / unlock and delete data from a lost Samsung smartphone?

Samsung’s Find My Mobile comes with several options that will help you track your lost phone and preserve the data on it. To use these features, you will need to log in to the SmartThings Find website using your Samsung account from another device such as a computer or mobile phone. That said, the features are:

• ring – Use this option to make your phone ring loudly and determine its location in case it’s nearby
• Track location – If the Samsung phone is lost driving on, the track location option can be used to identify its location on a map
• Delete data – This option can be used to wipe all data from your Samsung smartphone to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.
• Extend battery life – When enabled, this feature will disable the necessary features to preserve battery life