How to delete data from your lost or stolen device?

There’s just one thing that is worse than losing your smartphone, i.e., losing your phone, while it has a lot of personal stuff. Does the thought of someone having access to your emails, applications, or secret plans seem scary? Well, we are sure it does.

So, to keep you protected through this, we have just the right solution. If you follow all of these listed steps, you can at least have your peace of mind when your phone is lost. Here, let us get started and take a look at the measures to safeguard your phone’s data remotely.

Delete data from lost or stolen device

When you still have the phone

To remotely delete the data from your phone, you need to have an application called Find my Device on your smartphone. So, download this application, and make sure it is enabled. The app also works for tablets. However, if multiple users are using the tablet, only the one set as the owner will be able to set the features. Erin, an employee of TFTH, says that she lost her phone in the parking lot. So, she used Find my Device application to locate it immediately, and that helped her retrieve her phone within minutes.  

Finding your phone when it is lost

Now, when your phone is lost, it calls for immediate action, and by action, we mean trying to locate it. You can do that using the Find My Device. You can access the application in two ways. One by using the app on any other Android phone or by using the app via the website. After you log in to the application, the application will first try to locate your missing phone. If the phone is still on, you will get a signal. You will be able to trace the location on the map.

Now, you’ll get three options here. You can ring the phone, or you can lock it, or you can permanently wipe the data. In case the device is switched off, you’ll be able to track the location when someone turns it on or connects it to the cellular or the Wi-Fi network. James, an associate employee, working with TAE, says that he lost his phone in a mall, and when he tried locating it on the application, it didn’t show a signal. On the third day, he got a message that someone turned on the phone along with the location.

Before you consider deleting the data, you have two other options, i.e., one ringing the device and two locking the home screen. If these two don’t work, you could consider erasing the data.

Erasing the data

So, after you have located the phone on the application, you can erase all your data. However, please know that if your phone has an SD card, you cannot delete the data on it. Noami, an assignment help provider with EduWorldUSA, says that she found her phone back because of the Find my Device application, but by then, she had already deleted the data.

So, to retrieve the erased data, she had to use her Google password. Also, know that you wouldn’t be able to re-access the application once you remove the data. So, opting for the erase option will remotely delete your tablet or phone on some devices. Thus, it is more like a factory reset. So, you’ll lose all your photos, music, settings, and applications.

If you are worried about taking this option, you could go to your Google account and revoke access to your missing phone. It always helps to be extra cautious because determined hackers could go at any length to access your data even after you do the factory reset. So, you could consider changing the passwords to your online services too. Though your lost phone landing up in the hands of a hacker is low, it doesn’t hurt to be careful.

Find my device does not connect, now what?

If you are unable to connect to the application, there are two other things that you can try. If your phone has Google maps, it does track the location history of your phone. However, it would work if you haven’t turned that feature off in your Google account. If Find my Device fails, you can locate your missing phone by using the Location history or accessing the timestamps. Though it might not tell you where your phone is currently, it can certainly tell you all the places it’s been. Zoe, an associate editor of TrumpLearning, says that she lost her phone, and it was the Google maps that helped her trace its last locations. So, she went to the nearby police stations to file a complaint.

If this, too, does not work, you can use the Android Lost application, which works on the older Android devices. You can install it remotely. Though the app looks terrible, it does do the job well. However, for it to work, your device should be connected to the data or Wi-Fi.



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