Keeping track of your stuff can be a challenge. Between car keys, laptops, and cell phones, it’s not uncommon for people to misplace their personal belongings from time to time. Fortunately, with the prevalence of smartphones, there are many ways to track down an item that’s gone missing. You can find a lost iPhone in many different ways — some through third-party apps and services, others by changing settings and functionality on your device directly. Keeping tabs on your phone can also help you prevent common problems like forgetting where you parked or having it get stolen in the first place. Here is how you can find your lost iPhone without the help of the Find My iPhone app:
How To Find A Lost iPhone Without Find My iPhone?
1. Check Emails and Notification Settings
If you’ve lost your iPhone and it has been more than a day, you may want to take a look through your emails and push notifications to see if you can find any information that will help you locate your device. If you have an iPhone, your device will receive push notifications from various apps, email accounts, and more — and some of those notifications may have location information that you can use to track down your phone. If you’re having trouble finding these messages, you can also check your mail log on the iPhone by going to Settings > Mail > Logs. If you’re able to locate a message with a location in it, you can use that information to track down your phone. You may want to try contacting the person who sent the message and asking them if they can call your lost device to help you locate it. The person who found your phone will try to figure out how to change name of iPhone, and if they do, you will get an email about the iPhone name change.
2. Track Your Device Using GPS
If you’re in the middle of a situation where your iPhone has gone missing, it can be difficult to know where to start looking for the phone. In these situations, the best thing to do is turn on your iPhone’s GPS. GPS, or Global Positioning System, is a satellite-based navigation system that tracks the exact location of your device. By turning on your iPhone’s GPS in the middle of a lost device situation, you can view your iPhone’s location on a map and get in touch with whoever has it. Unfortunately, many iPhone models do not come with built-in GPS functionality. If you’re in the unfortunate situation where your iPhone does not come with built-in GPS, your best bet is to track down the last place your phone was and then search around that area to see if you can find it.
3. Ring Your iPhone With Find My iPhone Service
If your iPhone is missing and you don’t have a GPS signal, you can also use Apple’s Find My iPhone service to ring your iPhone from another device and help you track down the phone. You can get started by going to the iCloud website and logging in with your Apple ID. Once you’re logged in, select the “Find My iPhone” option on the left-hand side of the page. Once you’re on the “Find My iPhone” page, you can use the drop-down menu to select the device you’re trying to track down. Once you’ve selected the device, you can click the “Play Sound” button to ring your device through the website. You can also click the “Send Message” button to send a message to your device.
4. See Where You Last Saw It Using iCloud
If you’re trying to find your iPhone, but you don’t know where it is, iCloud can also help you track down your phone. While logged into iCloud, click the “All Devices” tab to view a list of all of your devices logged into iCloud. Select the device you’re trying to find, select “Last Location,” and click “Show Details” for more information on the location of your lost iPhone.
5. Use Apple’s Lost iPhone Finder
Finally, if all else fails, you can use Apple’s Lost iPhone Finder to help you track down your lost device. While on the “Find My iPhone” page, select “Lost iPhone” from the drop-down menu. You’ll be prompted to type in a description of your lost device and enter some basic contact information. Once you’ve entered this information, selected your device, and clicked the “Next” button, Apple will begin tracking down your phone and helping you get it back.
How To Enable Find My iPhone On Your Phone?
- To use Find My iPhone, the first thing you’ll need to do is make sure it’s turned on in the settings for your iPhone. You can check the current settings under “Find My iPhone” in the iCloud settings on your iPhone.
- To turn it on, just toggle the slider to green. Once it’s enabled, you can also use any computer to log in to iCloud.com and find your device there.
- You can also sign up for an Apple ID to use Find My iPhone—if you’ve never created one, you may be prompted to do so the first time you try to use the service.
Why Do You Need To Find Your Lost iPhone Without Using Find My Phone?
1. You May Have Important Data On Your Lost iPhone
If you lost your iPhone or iPad and have not yet enabled the iCloud service, you will not be able to track it with Find My iPhone. But you may have stored some data on your device, and you will want to get that back. If you have important data on your device, such as contact details, payment information for digital purchases, or a document that you have been working on, you will want to get that data off your lost or stolen iPhone as soon as possible.
2. You May Have Paid Apps Or Games On Your Lost iPhone
If you have purchased apps or games on your iPhone, you will want to get your payment back if you lose your iPhone. Apple’s “Find My iPhone” feature will not help you find your lost iPhone, but fortunately you can use the “Remote Wipe” feature to stop the thief from using your iPhone’s apps! Remote Wipe is a feature that is not often discussed since Apple doesn’t go around advertising it. But it’s a very useful feature for people who have lost their iPhones or iPads – and for anyone worried about the security of an old or unused device. Remote Wipe is part of Apple’s iCloud service and is designed to clean up your device (erasing everything on it) if it is lost or stolen. You can use it to lock an old device to make sure nobody can access your data or to remotely erase a lost or stolen device before someone else gets to it. You can also use Remote Wipe to delete data on your device if you want to sell it or give it away.
3. You May Want To Block Someone Who Tried To Repo Your iPhone
If someone tried to repossess your iPhone and you have to Find My iPhone enabled, you can use it to block the person from using it. But what if you have not enabled Find My iPhone? Remote Wipe is also useful if someone tried to repossess your iPhone and you don’t have to Find My iPhone enabled. To do this, open the Find My iPhone app, click on All Devices, select your iPhone and click on the “Blue i” icon. Here, you can click on the “Erase iPhone” button to erase your iPhone remotely. This will basically permanently delete all the data from your iPhone.
4. You Don’t Want The Repossession Company To Steal Your Data Or Apps
When you remote wipe your iPhone, you will lose all your data. If you have important data on your device, you must get it off before erasing or remotely wiping it. But what if there is sensitive data on your device that you don’t want the repossession company to have? If you remote wipe your device, the repossession company will be able to view all your data on the device. That includes emails, contacts, photos, and anything else on your device. If you want to keep some data from the repossession company, you must get it off the device before erasing it or remotely wiping it. You can use an external hard drive or online cloud storage service to get the data off your device. You can then erase or remotely wipe your device without worrying that the repossession company will see sensitive data.
Conclusion
When you lose your smartphone, it can be frustrating. Thankfully, there are many different ways to find your lost iPhone without the help of the Find My iPhone app. You can check your emails and push notifications for location information, track your device using GPS, ring your iPhone with the Find My iPhone service, see where you last saw it using iCloud, and use Apple’s Lost iPhone Finder to help you get it back.
