Use Samsung's Find My Mobile service to locate your phone on a map

If you have already turned on location services, your Samsung phone can be found through Find My Mobile, Samsung's built-in tracking service. This works even if your phone is powered off, lost in another room, or taken without permission. You access it from any web browser on a computer or another phone — you do not need to be holding your Samsung device.

Find My Mobile shows your phone's location on a map, lets you ring it at full volume to find it nearby, lock the screen remotely, or erase data if you believe it has been stolen. The service is free and comes built into every Samsung phone, but it only works if you set it up before you lose the phone.

Key Takeaways

  • Find My Mobile requires a Samsung account created and linked to your phone before it goes missing.
  • You can locate your phone, make it ring, lock it, or erase it from any web browser at findmymobile.samsung.com.
  • If you did not set up Find My Mobile in advance, you can still contact your carrier or use Google's Find My Device if your phone runs Android.
  • Location services must be turned on for Find My Mobile to show your phone's exact position on a map.
  • If your phone is off or the battery is dead, Find My Mobile may show its last known location instead of a live update.

Set up Find My Mobile before you need it

Find My Mobile only works if you have already created a Samsung account and linked it to your phone. If you have not done this yet, do it now while you still have your phone — you cannot set it up after the phone is lost.

Open Settings on your Samsung phone. Scroll down and tap Accounts and backup, then tap Accounts. Tap Add account and choose Samsung account. Follow the prompts to create a new account or sign in with an existing one. Once your Samsung account is linked, Find My Mobile is automatically active.

You can verify this worked by going to Settings, then Accounts and backup, then Find My Mobile. You should see a toggle that says Find My Mobile is on. If it is off, tap it to turn it on.

Locate your phone from a computer or another device

Go to findmymobile.samsung.com in any web browser. Sign in with the same Samsung account you linked to your phone. The page will show your phone's name and its location on a map if location services are on.

From this page you can tap Ring to make your phone play a loud sound for two minutes — useful if it is nearby but hidden under a couch or in a bag. You can tap Lock to lock the screen remotely and display a message on the lock screen with a phone number someone can call if they find it. You can also tap Erase to wipe all data from the phone if you believe it has been stolen.

If your phone is off or has no battery, Find My Mobile will show its last known location instead of a live one. Once the phone powers back on and reconnects to the internet, the location will update.

What to do if you did not set up Find My Mobile in advance

If your phone is missing and you never linked a Samsung account, Find My Mobile will not work. You have two other options depending on whether your phone runs Android.

If your Samsung phone runs Android, you can use Google's Find My Device at findmymobile.google.com. This works the same way as Find My Mobile — you sign in with your Google account and see your phone's location on a map. However, this only works if you were already signed into a Google account on your phone before it went missing.

You can also contact your mobile carrier — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, or whoever provides your service. They can sometimes locate your phone using cell tower data, though this is less precise than GPS. They may also be able to suspend your service to prevent someone from using your phone number or data plan.

Make sure location services stay on

Find My Mobile only shows your phone's exact location if location services are turned on. If location services are off, the service can still ring your phone or lock it, but it cannot pinpoint where it is.

Location services drain battery faster than normal use, so some people turn them off to save power. If you do this, Find My Mobile will not work as well. Consider leaving location services on, or at least turning them on periodically so Find My Mobile can update your phone's location.

You can check whether location services are on by opening Settings, tapping Location, and looking for the toggle at the top. If it says Location is on, Find My Mobile will work. If it says Location is off, tap the toggle to turn it back on.

Report your phone to police and your carrier

If you believe your phone has been stolen rather than straightforward lost, contact your local police department and file a report. Give them your phone's serial number, which you can find in the original box or receipt, or by calling your carrier.

Call your mobile carrier and tell them your phone is missing. They can suspend your account so no one can make calls or use data on your plan. They can also flag your phone's serial number so it cannot be activated on another carrier's network, which makes a stolen phone much less valuable to a thief.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I find my Samsung phone if it is turned off?

Find My Mobile can show your phone's last known location even when it is off. However, it will not update that location until the phone powers back on and reconnects to the internet. If your phone has been off for hours, the last known location may be far from where it actually is.

Do I need to pay for Find My Mobile?

No. Find My Mobile is free and included with every Samsung phone. You only need a Samsung account, which is also free to create.

What if someone else has my Samsung phone and knows my password?

If a thief has your phone and your Samsung account password, they can sign into Find My Mobile themselves and erase the data before you do. This is why you should change your Samsung account password when ready if you suspect theft. You can do this from any computer at samsung.com.

Will Find My Mobile work if my phone has no internet connection?

No. Find My Mobile requires your phone to be connected to the internet — either through Wi-Fi or mobile data — to send its location to Samsung's servers. If your phone is in airplane mode or has no signal, Find My Mobile cannot locate it.

Can I use Find My Mobile to track someone else's phone without their permission?

No. Find My Mobile only works with your own Samsung account on your own phone. You cannot use it to track another person's phone, and attempting to do so would be illegal in most places.