Have you ever misplaced your cell phone and spent time searching for it without success? If so, you’re not alone. Countless people are prone to misplacing their phones or unfortunately, getting their phones stolen.
While protective iPhone 14 cases and Samsung phone cases have reduced the odds you’ll damage or destroy your phone if you drop it, many cell phones still mysteriously disappear from places like restaurants, grocery stores and retail shops. They even tend to go missing at home. Luckily, you can take some simple steps to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Here are four tips to help make losing your phone a thing of the past.
Tip 1: Use a Phone-finder App
The most helpful thing you can do to ensure you never lose your phone is to make sure that the phone-finder app is switched on.
If you have an Android, use Google’s Find My Device. Note that the specifics of these steps depend on which phone model you use:
1. Make sure your location is turned on and that you’re signed into your Google account.
2. Next, go to Settings > Security > Find My Device or Find My Mobile, and flip the toggle switch on.
3. In your Android phone’s Find My Device menu, you can scroll down to activate some additional loss-prevention settings. Most Androids can store their most recent location and forward it to your Google account. This is helpful if the battery gets low or the connection gets spotty.
You can test that your Android phone finder is set up correctly by visiting Google Find My Device, signing into your Google account and selecting the phone you want to locate. On the map, Zoom into the phone icon to see your phone’s exact location. There are also options to:
• Make your phone play a sound, even if it’s in silent mode.
• Lock the phone and sign out of your accounts.
• Erase all your data from the phone.
If you have an iPhone, use Find My iPhone:
1. Start by turning on your Location Services. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, and then flip the green toggle switch marked Location Services.
2. Next, go back to the Settings window and tap your name at the top of the screen. In the menu that opens, tap Find My and turn on the green switch labeled Find My iPhone.
3. In this window, you can also share your phone’s location with anyone or set it to automatically send its last location to the cloud when the battery gets low.
Tip 2: Use a Phone Strap
You can put your phone in inseparable mode by tethering it to your body with a phone strap. Long phone straps that hang around your neck are usually called lanyards, and shorter phone straps that hook onto a wristband, purse zipper or belt loops are called leashes.
Phone straps give you the security of keeping your phone close, making it accessible in an instant. Some phone straps come attached to a phone case, some clip to your existing case and some use an adhesive to stick to your phone. If you want to add a bit of shine to your security, you can use a phone wristlet or similar accessories to keep your phone safe and stylish.
Tip 3: Give Your Phone a Home Base
It will be much easier to find your phone if you limit the places where you tend to keep it. Developing a habit of placing it in specific locations will make it unlikely to get lost in the first place. At home or work, always try to plug your charger into the same outlet and keep your phone within reach of the charger. If you use a wireless charger, find a snug little niche that it can call home, and get in the habit of leaving it and your phone in that home base.
Also, establish a routine of keeping your phone in a consistent place when you’re on the move. For example, always keep it in the same pocket in your jeans, backpack or purse. This may take some time to form into a habit, but once you do, you’ll always know where to find your phone.
Tip 4: Keep a Backup
Another vital phone habit to develop is regularly backing up all your phone’s essential data. If you make a point of copying your phone’s most important information to a safe place every month or so, then, should your phone ever disappear, at least its data will still be with you.
You can do this manually by copying what you need to your PC or Mac via USB or Wi-Fi. Many phones also let you backup your data to the cloud automatically:
• For iPhones, tap Settings > Your Name > iCloud, and flick on the iCloud Backup switch.
• For many Android phones, tap Settings > System > Advanced > Backup, and toggle on the Backup to Google Drive switch.
Now, if you ever lose your phone, you can heave a sigh of relief that all its essential memories and settings are stored in a secure location.
Conclusion
Try these tips to prevent that creeping panic each time your phone is nowhere to be found. You’ll reduce the odds of losing your phone in the first place, but if it does go missing, you’ll have given yourself the gift of peace of mind.
