How can you track a cellphone when lost or stolen? Here's How

The rate at which people lost their phones or gets stolen nowadays is nothing to write home about. Nobody would love his/her phone to be stolen, after spending so much to buy the beloved phone.
For one to misplace his/her phone, or gets stolen by someone is really a horrible experience. We always save so much data and files, which are personal on our phones, which ranges from different forms of information, to pictures, media files, payment details and lots more. So to say, our phones keeps details which are important to our lives.



Most developers such as Google, Apple and BlackBerry have because of this reason decided to include in their respective operating systems, ways on how to track a cellphone, in order to help in finding a lost or stolen device.

People still get their phone misplaced, and sometimes their phones stolen by someone else no matter how tight the security is. But yes the security also helps even when it is stolen, as they don't have access to your files easily. How exactly can you track a cellphone? So many don't even know how to do this, and that's why I will be sharing with you, how you can make use of the features in finding a stolen or misplaced phone, for your respective devices like Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry. Here's how to track a cell phone on your devices.

How to track a cellphone when lost - iPhone

Apple's has made how to track a lost or stolen iPhone easier with the  Find My iPhone service. This service has been developed such that,it can track any type or all of the iOS devices, irrespective of the kind or series of iPhone you are using. Including any Mac associated with your Apple ID too. To Make use of this feature on your iPhone, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to Settings app on your iPhone and launch it

2. Scroll down and click on 'iCloud'

3. Find and select 'Find My iPhone' near the bottom of the list

4. Toggle the switch next to Find My iPhone to the On position

5 It's advisable to turn on Send Last Location as well, while you are there.

You can track a cellphone that is lost or stolen with the  Find My iPhone app on another iOS device or by visiting  iCloud.com and signing into your iCloud account , once you enable the Find My iPhone.

You can lock your lost iPhone with a new pass code, when tracking it from iCloud website or from the app on another iOS device. You can also track where the device is currently, where it has been and also can fully erase all contents on the device.

Note that,in order for this service to work properly, your lost iPhone needs to be connected to the Internet through cellular or Wi-Fi connection, else it work. Which signifies that if a thief steals your phone and turns off the connection, you will not be able to make use of it, until it's turned back on and connected to a network. Your iPhone will report it's last location even when the battery is low, provided the Last Location feature is turned on, as mentioned in above in step 5. This won't show the exact spot of the device if it's been moved before the battery goes off, but will provide you a good starting point to tracking your device.
To disable Find My iPhone on a device, the user is required by Apple to approve the change in his/her Apple ID password. Also means that, a thief will not be able to disable Find My iPhone feature, unless they know your password also, rendering it useless for me too.

How to track a cellphone when lost- BlackBerry and Windows phones

Even if most of the smartphones used today are Android and iOS, still most also make use of BlackBerry and Windows smartphones.
Windows users should follow some of the instructions made by Microsoft here. BlackBerry 10 users also can make use of the BlackBerry Protect and simple follow the instructions.

How to track a cellphone when lost- Android phone

Google has an Android device manager which works more like Apple's Find My iPhone. Unlike the Find My iPhone which is pre- installed, the app needs to be downloaded for Android from Play store, and needs to be setup before use. Here's how you can do this

1. Navigate to Google Play store on your Android phone, and search for Android Device Manager or click  this link to get it.

2. Sign in with your Google account after installing the app.

3. Be certain that the check box " Never Ask Me again" is left unchecked, because if you leave it checked who so ever that has access to your device would be able to disable the feature, or even track your other devices.

Should in case you misplace your Android phone or gets stolen, you can use another Android phone to track your phone with the app or better still visit Google's  Android Device Manager . You will be requested to log into the site using the same Google account you used to sign into the app on your own device.

By making use of the app, you can completely erase it, play a sound on it or lock the device. This particular feature goes for all various types of phones including Blackberry and Windows too.
Also bear in mind that for this feature to work properly, the network must be on and must be connected to Internet or Wi-Fi, because it won't work if it's not connected to the Internet just like iPhone too.

NOTE: The same goes for BlackBerry and Windows smartphone. Non of this would work if they are not connected to the Internet, as connecting to the Internet is the only way it can work properly.

If you have a phone which you are using and is not described here, you can contact them or visit the developer's website to know if they have a method of tracking a stolen or lost device.