How to find a lost phone: what really works

Buddy-locator.com is a prank and can't locate any phone. If you need to find a real phone, these are the options that actually work.

Find your own phone

• iPhone, iPad, Mac: open Find My on another Apple device or at icloud.com/find and sign in with the same Apple Account.
• Android: open Google Find Hub at google.com/android/find and sign in with the Google account used on the phone.
• Samsung: SmartThings Find works even for some phones that are offline.

These services show the current or last known location, can play a sound, lock the phone and display a message for whoever finds it, or erase it remotely. They only work if location services and the find feature were turned on before the phone was lost.

If your phone was stolen

• Report the theft to the police and give them the IMEI number (dial *#06# on the phone, or find it on the box or in your carrier account).
• Ask your carrier to block the SIM card and the IMEI.
• Use Find My or Find Hub to lock the phone and change the passwords of your important accounts.
• Don't try to get the phone back on your own – share its location with the police instead.

Someone else's phone

You can only see another person's location if they choose to share it with you, for example through Google Maps location sharing, Apple Find My or live location in WhatsApp. Carriers don't give a phone's location to the public; they share it only with emergency services or under a court order. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

Watch out for scams

Websites and apps that promise to locate any phone just by its number don't work. Many of them ask for payment, a subscription or personal data before showing a "result". Never pay for such a service and never install apps that ask for access to someone else's phone.