This post is part of a series on how to locate devices on any of the four major smartphone operating systems. If this isn’t the right guide for your device, you can go back to the main article for links to the others.
Microsoft has not left its Windows Phone users out in the cold when it comes to protecting their smartphones once they have been stolen. It has a Find My Phone service built into all Windows Phones without you even havig to worry about an install.
Features
- Ring – Your Windows Phone will ring at maximum volume to help you find where it is.
- Lock – Replace your standard lock screen with a new password and an optional message that will appear when your Windows Phone is unlocked. As an added bonus you can turn on the phone’s ringer at the same time as locking it.
- Erase – Factory reset your Windows Phone which erases all apps, photos, music and settings. After you erase the device, Find My Phone will no longer be able to track your Windows Phone.
How to set up Find My Phone
Find my phone is immediately set up when you log into your phone using your Windows ID however you can set up additional features in the ‘Settings’ menu.
- Open your Settings.
- Scroll down and select Find My Phone.
- Select one or both of the following:
- Send apps to my phones using push notification (not SMS) – The Find My Phone service uses text messaging to send commands to your phone. Check this option to use push notifications instead. Along with being faster than SMS Push notifications, Find My Phone can only send 15 text messages to your phone in a three-day period whereas push notifications are unlimted.
- Save my phone’s location periodically and before the battery runs out to make it easier to find – Microsoft can save your phone’s location every few hours so that if your phone loses coverage, is turned off or the battery dies, its last known location will still be available to you.
