Your Gmail account is the lifeline to your every other internet activity these days. A Gmail account enhances your user experience for most internet activities and makes your online existence easy.
Basically, everything is so deeply connected to your Gmail today that a child is born and the first thing done with their name is the creation of their Gmail account. Just kidding, but a Gmail account is the biggest online asset that every internet user owns.
Now the question arises, despite having a reserved place in our cell phones, can a Gmail account only provide you with a personalized Internet experience, nothing else?
Well, that’s not true. Your Gmail account is so powerful that you can track phone using Gmail account.
Not just the location but remote access to some features are also provided to ease you in finding the lost phone. And in the worst case, it’s possible to wipe out all the crucial data stored in your phone.
Let’s see how to track mobile location using Gmail account and check how Gmail can help you recover your lost phone.
Table Of Contents
- Quick Summary
- How To Track Phone Using Gmail
- How Find My Device App Work?
- Using The Find My Device App To Track Lost Phone With Gmail
- Locate A Lost Phone Using Google Maps
- Use Third-Party Apps To Track A Phone
- How To Track Location Using Gmail Account? Final Verdict
- FAQs
Quick Summary
You can actually find a phone using Gmail. However, for that, you must use the Google Find My Device app. This app will help you track your mobile location using Gmail account. Besides that, you can also use Google Maps or other third-party apps such as Snapchat and GEOfinder to locate a lost cell phone.
How To Track Phone Using Gmail
Google has made plenty of apps keeping in mind the mundane affairs of our lives and the hardships that you might go through once in a blue moon.
One such mishap that you might have to go through someday is losing your expensive smartphone.
It’s not just about the money you have spent on your smartphone. Your personal data is on the verge of getting stolen and it’s a matter of greater concern.
Your passwords, photos and media, Gmail, and other personal information stored on the phone are far expensive than the $400-$500 spent on the phone. If by any chance this personal information falls in the wrong hands then you might get vulnerable to crimes and online thefts that you were never actually a part of.
Here’s how you can avert this disaster coming your way using Google’s Find My Device app for Android.
How Find My Device App Work?
In order to find phone using Gmail, you have to either download the app on the phone that you want to use for tracking the lost phone or use the Find My Device website.
1. If you choose to download the app on your phone then you need to make an account and sign in on the app using the same Gmail account with which you’re signed in on the lost phone. Tap on Continue as “your name” to proceed further.
2. Next you have to provide the password for your Gmail account and tap on Sign in.
3. Finally give the location access to the Find My Device app by tapping on WHILE USING THE APP.
Using The Find My Device App To Track Lost Phone With Gmail
After a phone is lost you will feel helpless about the situation. But with the Find My Device app, there’s a possibility that you can track your mobile location using a Gmail account through the Find My Device app.
Location Tracking With Gmail
Right on the app’s portal, you will see the current location of your phone if it’s switched on. Based on this location you can find your cell phone using Gmail and reach the phone where you dropped it.
Play Sound On The Lost Phone Remotely
If you remember having the phone with you a few minutes ago then there’s a chance you might have dropped it somewhere nearby.
To locate your phone instantly, you can play your phone’s ringtone remotely using the Find My Device app. You just have to tap on the Play Sound option that clearly appears on the screen.
With this, you have remotely activated your phone’s ringtone and once you have located your phone, you can click on Stop sound to turn off the ringtone.
What makes this feature more reliable is the fact that you can even activate the sound even when the phone is on silent or vibration mode.
Secure The Lost Device
If you don’t find your phone by playing the sound then it means you have dropped it somewhere far. And to track the phone, you can use the location tracking feature along with the Secure Device feature.
This option will help you create an always-on display message on the lost phone screen along with the phone number where you can pick up the call.
Here’s a screenshot to help you better understand how the screen will appear on your phone.
Add Password Remotely
Suppose you don’t keep a lock on your phone and now you are worried about your crucial information getting into the wrong hands. Consider yourself in luck as Find My Device has a solution to your problem.
If your phone is not secured with a pin or a password then you cannot display the Secure Device message on the phone screen I mentioned above. But surprisingly, the Find My Device app will let you set a password on your phone remotely. Make sure to remember the set password thoroughly as it cannot be changed again.
Checking Battery And Wi-Fi Connection
By keeping track of the battery level in the phone, you can know how much time you have to locate your lost phone.
If the phone is about to get out of juice then you need to take action immediately.
You can check if your phone is connected to some Wi-Fi connection currently. And if you think you know where that Wi-Fi connection is situated then you are one step closer to locating your phone.
Erasing Device Data
This feature is provided in the app for the worst-case scenario. Suppose you can’t locate your phone and you are almost sure that you aren’t getting it back anyway.
In such a case, your priority should be to save your personal data somehow. You can use the Erase Device option of the app for this purpose.
Once you tap on ERASE DEVICE option and sign in to your Google account, you can clear all the data from the lost phone remotely just using your Gmail.
Locate A Lost Phone Using Google Maps
You can also utilize the Google Maps Timeline feature to locate your lost cell phone. Google Maps keeps track of your previous locations. However, it will only keep a record of your previous location if you have enabled Location History in Google Maps on your device.
To find your lost Android device using this method, follow the below steps on your computer:
- Open Google Maps then log in to your Google account and click on the menu icon.
- Next, choose Your timeline from the left panel.
- This will present you with a timeline displaying your recent trips. You can also narrow down your search by selecting the date when you lost your phone using the provided drop-down menus at the top left corner.
By retracing your movements through the timeline, you may eventually pinpoint the location where you misplaced your phone.
Use Third-Party Apps To Track A Phone
If you are not able to track your phone by Gmail then don’t worry. You can use other third-party apps to find the location of a lost phone.
An excellent example of one such app is Snapchat. With the help of Snapchat, you can see the location of your friends. If you had not enabled Ghost Mode on your Snapchat account before the phone was lost, then you could ask your Snapchat friends to check your recent location on Snap Map. This way, you can determine your last whereabouts and potentially find your lost cell phone.
Must Read: How To Check Someone’s Location On Snapchat In Ghost Mode?
You can also make use of the GEOfinder tool which lets you track a phone by sending a link to a phone number. All you have to do is enter your phone number and send an Image URL to the phone number as an SMS. If someone is using your phone and they click on the link provided in the SMS then your phone location will be updated on the GEOfinder dashboard. Consequently, you will be able to remotely find the location of your lost phone. Read my review of GEOfinder to know how GEOfinder works.
Further Reading:
How To Track Location Using Gmail Account? Final Verdict
Just open the Play Store app and write “Phone Tracker.” You will find a zillion of apps that promise to reunite you with your phone.
But Google is the only brand you can and you should trust. That’s the reason why we recommend you Find My Device app to track the lost phone through Gmail.
A plus point of using this app is that it can even track a phone that does not have a SIM in it. The first thing that a thief will do after stealing or finding your phone is, remove your SIM card from your phone.
But is there anything that can help you more than Google and its Find My Device app? A spy app for Android is your answer.
Using a spy app you can secure your phone beforehand if it gets lost in the future.
Some features of the spy app will give you remote access to more features than the Find My Device app. Using a good spy app, you can track the cell phone number that is currently working on the lost cell phone.
Erasing data and tracking of location is also made possible by these apps. Besides Find My Device you can also make use of Google Maps to track your phone with Gmail account. Also, you can use third-party apps such as Snapchat or GEOfinder to locate your phone without Google account.
FAQs
Can You Track Someone's Location Through Gmail?
Find My Device app works by using your Gmail account for the tracking of your location.
Can A Phone Be Tracked If Location Services Is Turned Off?
No, if location services is turned off then it's not possible to keep a track of the phone's current location.
Can I Ring My Phone On Silent Mode?
Despite the phone being on silent mode, Fine My Device app can ring the phone's ringtone remotely.
How Do You Find A Lost Phone If It Is Switched Off?
There's no way you can track location or ring the bell on a lost phone if it is turned off.
Can You Erase Data On The Lost Phone Remotely?
Yes, the Find My Device app can help you erase your confidential information from the lost phone remotely.
