Locate Your Lost Phone with Google’s Android Device Manager

    Smartphones have become a very important part of a person’s life. Losing a phone can become a big problem. Mobile phones are now not just used for making call but contain a lot of valuable information and losing it will really cause a lot of trouble.  It can store contact details, messages, your credit card information, bank information, password and other important information that you don’t want others to see. So losing a phone can become a big problem. But now there are ways to locate your phone, if you have lost.
 

    Google has released a new free service called Android Device Manager to help you track your lost phone. This service will help you find your lost phone at no cost at all. It will track your device even if you don’t have a tracking app pre-installed on your lost phone, which is pretty amazing! But your phone should be connected to a Google account, GPS enabled and connected to the Internet.
 

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    Let us see how you can track your lost mobile phone with Android Device Manager. Before you begin let me tell you that Android Device Manager won’t work if the phone is switched off, but the actions you make will take effect once the phone is switched on again. 
 

• At first go to Android device manager via your computer web browser and login with your Google account. 

• Click on accept when a prompt window asking your permission to retrieve location data appears.

• Make sure you have GPS enabled on your phone. GPS will only drain your battery if it is used actively. So leaving it ON always won’t be a big problem for your battery. You’ll get the location details of your lost phone.

• You can also make your phone ring even if the phone is set to silent with this service by selecting the Ring option. This option will make your phone ring at full volume so that you can locate your phone if it is nearby like if you’ve misplaced it at your house or at your office.

• Another neat feature of the Android Device Manager is the Lock option. With this option you can remotely set a new password for your phone.

• You can also completely wipe your phone with this service. If you have lost a phone and you know you can’t get it back, you can use the Erase option to completely erase the information you have stored in your phone. Once you have erased it you will not be able to access your phone any longer. A complete factory reset may not erase external storage like SD cards.

• Moreover, for Lock and Erase options to work you will have to activate Android Device Manager on your phone. But if it is already lost its too late. To activate, go to Settings, then to Security, and then Device Administrators.   Here you should mark the checkbox next to Android Device Manager. Tap Activate, and you are ready to go.
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About the Author

Khurshid Kamar

    Khurshid Kamar is a student of Computer Science Engineering who has merged his
passion for all things technological with his enthusiasm for writing. This computer geek
spends most of his free time looking up the latest what’s what in technology and the rest,
watching movies and anime, listening to rock music and Eminem, hanging out with other
nerdy friends and quoting Fight Club. Connect with him on Google+