Losing one's phone is the biggest nightmare of every student. Such situations occur during the most terrible time, for instance, the night before exam or the busiest lunch period. You search for your gadget in your backpack and all the pockets trying your best, feeling horrible pain when you realize that it is lost. Fortunately, there is a possibility to recover your phone with the help of some technical means. The most effective among them is "Find My Device" provided by Google, but it requires some preparation before using.
First of all, it is not only the tool for searching for your gadget but also it is the way to protect your confidential information from any stranger. Without "Find My Device" your phone can become useless and totally unprotected. Fortunately, the process of its setting-up does not take more than 5 minutes which is quite a little price for the future peace of mind. Well, not setting it up is like leaving the door opened when going on vacation. Let us describe how to set it up.
First of all, you have to make sure that this feature is enabled. It seems to work automatically, but unfortunately it can be turned off during some update. Open the menu of your phone settings and find "Security" section. Then click on it and search for "Find My Device" option. If the switch is gray, click on it and turn it bright green or blue.
Then you need to make sure that your location setting is enabled because otherwise, this app will not be able to find your device. Go back to your phone settings menu and find the section "Location". Make sure that the switch at the top of this menu is enabled because only in this case, the satellite can trace your hardware. These two checks are quite easy to do but their ignoring can ruin the whole process. Now it is the good moment to check them once again.
Let us continue to the main point – the Google account. It is the same email which you use for your YouTube channel or Google Classroom. You definitely have to remember your Google password because it is the key for you to track your gadget. If you forget your Google password, you will not be able to get access to your gadget. Write it down in your notebook if you are afraid to forget it.
Now, when everything is done, let us imagine that your nightmare comes true and your phone is lost during your gym lessons or you have forgotten it in the library. Do not worry because there are some ways to cope with it. You can use your friend's phone, Chromebook or any other computer connected to the Internet. Just open your web browser and enter android.com/find to the address bar. Enter your Google credentials there.
After that the map with the location of your phone appears. Hopefully, it is somewhere in the school building. There are three options of actions you can do which are displayed in the screen: Play Sound, Secure Device and Erase Device. The "Play Sound" will help you to find your phone. In case of using it, your phone will ring loudly for five minutes regardless of the fact if it is in silent mode.
This feature helps thousands of students to avoid digging in the garbage. But what if your phone is somewhere far away in the other part of the city and at the stranger's house? This situation is definitely more terrifying, but even in this case, there are several ways to cope with it. You have to click "Secure Device" to lock your phone with the new password and to log out of Google account on that phone.
In this way, the person who found your phone will not be able to see your photos, messages and any other apps which are connected to your Google account. Moreover, you may write a note there, for example, "Reward if found, call this number". It is one of the ways to encourage the honest person to return your property. If the location seems suspicious or you have reasons to believe that it was stolen, you have to be careful. Dealing with the thief may be quite dangerous so you should leave the physical retrieval to the police.
The last thing you can do in case if you are absolutely sure that you will never find your phone is clicking "Erase Device". This button will delete all the information in your phone. It becomes empty. Once you pressed it, the tracking stops and you will not be able to find your device anymore so be careful.
There is one condition which makes a lot of people confused. Your phone has to be turned on and connected to Wi-Fi or any other mobile connection. Otherwise, in case if the thief removed your SIM card or turned your phone off, the map will show the last known location of your phone. It is not ideal, but better than nothing.
Also, make sure that you have the screen lock with the help of the PIN or fingerprint. Otherwise, the tracking of your phone will not help you at all because any stranger will be able to use your information. Having a good password is the first step which you can do to protect your device from any intrusions. It takes just a second more to unlock it.
Try to do the practice with the help of your parents or sibling to check whether it works. You can use their phone to log in and find your device. It is important to be prepared because in this way you will not have to learn how to do that under the stress. Also, you can impress your friends with your technological skills. Preparation is the ultimate move in the digital world.
Thus, spend five minutes after you finish reading this article to set up your device properly. There is no reason why you would not do it now, when you know its importance. It is one of the easiest things which you can do to protect your information and it will pay back in the future.
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