It's nerve-wracking when you can't find your
phone. Whether it's truly lost, or just stuck
between the sofa cushions, Find My Phone can
help lay your worry to rest. This free service on
windowsphone.com can ring, lock or erase your
Windows Phone, or show it on a map from any
Internet-connected computer.
To sign in to Find My Phone for the first time
The first time you use Find My Phone, you'll need
to sign in to it using your Microsoft account .
1. On your computer, go to windowsphone.com.
2. Point to the phone in the top-right corner, then
click Find My Phone. If you're prompted, sign
in with the same Microsoft account you used
to sign in on your phone.
To find your phone
1. On your computer, go to windowsphone.com.
2. Point to the phone in the top-right corner, then
click Find My Phone. If you're prompted, sign
in with the same Microsoft account you used
to sign in on your phone.
3. You'll see a map with your phone's location.
You can zoom in or out to get a better view.
Tips
Not seeing the latest location? Click
Refresh.
If you'd like to make a hard copy of
your phone's location, click Print .
If you've scrolled around on the map
and lost track of your phone's location
on it, click Centre on map .
To ring or lock your phone
1. On your computer, go to windowsphone.com.
2. Point to the phone in the top-right corner, then
click Find My Phone. If you're prompted, sign
in with the same Microsoft account you used
to sign in on your phone.
3. Do one of the following:
To make your phone ring, click Ring and
then follow the instructions. It will ring
even if the volume is off or set to vibrate.
To lock your phone and show a message
on the lock screen, click Lock , then follow
the instructions. If you don't already have
a password set up on your phone, you'll
need to enter one – you'll use it to unlock
the phone if you get it back.
To erase your phone
If you're certain that you can't get your phone
back, or if you have sensitive information on it that
you want to protect until you recover it, you can
erase your phone remotely.
1. On your computer, go to windowsphone.com.
2. Point to the phone in the top-right corner, then
click Find My Phone. If you're prompted, sign
in with the same Microsoft account you used
to sign in on your phone.
3. Click Erase .
4. If you're absolutely, positively sure, tick the
I'm sure! Please erase my phone now
checkbox, then click Erase .
Note
It's a good idea to let your mobile operator
know that you've lost your phone.
To change settings for Find My Phone
You can set up Find My Phone to save your location
every few hours, or to use push notifications
instead of text messages to send commands (and
apps) to your phone faster and more cheaply.
You'll change these settings on your phone, not on
your computer.
1. In the App list , tap Settings , then tap Find
my phone .
2. Tick either or both of the following
checkboxes:
Always use push notifications (not SMS)
to send commands and apps to my
phone . The Find My Phone service and
the Windows Phone Store on the web use
text messaging to send commands and
apps to your phone. Tick this option to
use push notifications instead. Why? Push
notifications can be faster than text
messages, and if your mobile operator
charges you for each incoming text
message, push notifications might also be
cheaper. Also, Find My Phone can only
send 15 text messages to your phone in a
three-day period. With push notifications,
there's no limit.
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 details every few hours
so that if your phone is out of range or
the battery dies, we can still show your
phone's last known location on a map.