Learn what steps to take if you lose your iPhone or iPad in order to protect your personal data, track your device, and report the incident to law enforcement.
Better safe than sorry, they say. That’s especially the case for expensive gadgets like your iPhone that hold a considerable amount of private information. Should you misplace your iPhone or a thief steals it, however, knowing how to handle the situation with minimal disruption will be crucial. Hopefully, you’ll never have to deal with such situations. But if you do, here are the steps you can proactively take.
Enable Find My iPhone
The most important step in protecting an iOS device is turning on Find My iPhone so you can locate, track, lock, and even completely wipe it remotely.
If you use iCloud, Find My iPhone is already enabled by default to ensure you have at least some form of protection without requiring you to do anything specific. That being said, you’re recommended to check if Find My is enabled on your device, just in case. My wife backs up her iPhone to iCloud but when I recently checked her device, I realized Find My iPhone was disabled for some reason.
Put your device in Lost Mode
If your iPhone is lost or stolen, the first thing to do is put it in Lost Mode. Doing so locks the device remotely with a passcode, even if it wasn’t set up in the first place. It also displays a personal message and your phone number on the Lock screen. If someone finds your phone, they’ll see your message and can call you immediately.
Of course, this won’t deter thieves but Lost Mode ensures they cannot get into your iPhone to steal your data. The best part of Find My iPhone is that it automatically enables Activation Lock, a feature that prevents anyone from setting up your device after erasing it without knowing your Apple Account password. A device in Lost Mode is completely useless for everyone but you.
Must read: How to put your iPhone or iPad in Lost Mode
Track the device
If you already put your iPhone or iPad in Lost Mode, the next thing you want to do is to locate your device. Use the Find My app to make the device play a sound to help locate it if it’s nearby. The sound will play even if the device is muted.
Find My iPhone also lets you locate your devices on a map and get turn-by-turn directions to navigate to it in the Maps app. This can prove helpful if you’ve lost your device in the park, for example. However, this feature can potentially take you straight to a thief’s doorstep, so don’t be a hero! If you believe your iPhone was stolen and you’ve managed to track it down to a specific location, call the police instead of confronting the thief yourself. Obviously, your device must have internet connectivity via Wi-Fi or cellular for all those Find My features to work.
Erase the device
If attempts to recover your device have failed, you can remotely erase it as a last resort to make sure your data never falls in the wrong hands. While your data is safe when the device is in Lost Mode, it still physically resides in the storage; the only way to wipe your data for good is to erase your device. Doing so ensures the thief cannot do a thing with it due to Activation Lock requiring your Apple Account email and password during the setup process.
Must read: How to remotely erase an iPhone or iPad
Report your device to the police
While this might not prove really effective, it doesn’t hurt to report a lost device to law enforcement. You may need to spend some time at the police station to fill out paperwork. But if the police ever find your device, they’ll be able to identify it and contact you. The police will need your iPhone’s serial number and the IMEI number. Filing a police report will also help with your insurance claim.
Report your device to your carrier
Lost Mode will stop anyone from getting into your device. However, a thief can still pop your SIM card in another phone to use your carrier’s cellular data for texting and making expensive calls on your dime. Ask your mobile phone operator to add your missing device to its database of lost and stolen devices, and temporarily deactivate your account. You should also protect your physical SIM card by setting a PIN. Better yet, use an eSIM instead of a physical SIM card.
Do you have other tips to share about steps to take when an iPhone is lost or stolen?