Things You Can Do Now To Help You Locate Your Lost Phone Later

A friend of mine told me that his cell phone had been stolen over the weekend.  He had left it in his car and someone "helped themselves" to the content of his car.  That made me wonder what would I do if I lost my phone or my tablet?  All my contact information, photos, videos, etc. are on my tablet!  I am forever looking for my phone in my purse or in my car.  I found this information very helpful.

Call your phone from another line.

With the ringer at the highest volume, you have the best shot at hearing the phone ring and finding it quickly but what if you're alone and can't find a phone to call from?  Log on to iCantFindMyPhone.com enter your phone number and click on Hello?  In a few moments your phone will ring and you can dig in that black hole you call a purse to find it.

Use a bright colored phone case.

If you drop your phone in a dark place it will be way easier for you to spot if it is wrapped in a bright colored case.  There are so many to choose from now.  The brighter the better.

Keep contact information on your device.

If you every lose your phone if your contact information is visible on the home screen someone will be more likely to try to contact you to return it to you.  Store a photo of your contact information or make your phone's lock screen image a photo of your name and email address.  Also, add the ICE (in case of emergency) contact information.  That would be the first place I would look if I found someone's phone.

You may also want to make labels for your devices with your contact information on them in case you leave them at an airport or restaurant.  Leave a text file on your USB drive labed "if_found_return_to.txt" and include your contact information.

And probably the best advice - Enable GPS

If you've lost your phone or your phone gets stolen, no problem!  Look it up on a map.  Apple has made this easy with "Find My iPhone" and "Find my iPad" apps.  If you are a android user Lookout Security on Google Play is for you!  But all the major mobile carriers will enable users to track the locations of GPS-enabled phones for an extra $5 or $10 a month.

Has your phone ever been stolen or lost?  What did  you do?