How to get a lost phone back to its owner

This story has been updated. It was originally published on January 26, 2018.

If you have ever lost your smartphone, you will know how difficult it is to retrieve your lost device. So when you find an unattended device, you should return it as soon as possible.

However, most people lock their phone screen for security reasons, so you can’t simply launch the Contacts app and start calling the owner’s family and friends. Unless they print their name and address in big letters on the back of the device, you have to rely on other ways to retrieve your lost phone. Here are some tips we came up with, including some from this Reddit topic.

Check the surrounding area

Put your detective cap and check the area around you found your phone. Are there wallets or coats nearby, which may contain some contact details? Also check out the phone case (if any) as it may contain business cards, credit cards, inscriptions, or other clues that will help you identify the owner of the device.

[Related: How to Find Lost Phone]

When you check the surrounding area, do you see someone looking for their lost equipment sadly? Observing the people around you is the fastest way to get your phone back, and it also ensures that you don’t accidentally steal someone else’s device when you turn around! Owners may also rush back to the area to find their phones, so stay nearby for a while if you have time.

Keep the phone on

Before you start fiddling with the lock screen, make sure your phone remains on and is fully charged. You should keep it on as owners may find another phone and call immediately after they are able to dial their number. This way, you can answer and schedule a meeting immediately.

Of course, if the phone is out of power, it cannot keep the phone on. While you may not find the charger next to your lost phone, you can charge your phone using your own cable or a friend's cable. You need to use a Lightning interface charger for your iPhone and a microUSB or USB-C charger for your Android device. If you don't have a suitable charger around you, go buy one - it's cheap and the original owner may reimburse you.

Clean check the lock screen

If the owner of the lost phone has saved the details of the emergency contact in their device, you can access these friends from the lock screen. On an iOS device, swipe up from the bottom or press the Home button to open the Password screen, click the Emergency link in the lower left corner, and select Medical ID. If you are picking up an Android phone, swipe up from the bottom of the screen, click Emergency Call, and then click to view emergency information. If you see the listed emergency contacts, please contact them to find out whose phone you found.

Meanwhile, you should probably add emergency contacts to the lock screen of your own phone – just in case. On your iPhone, go to the Settings app, click the HealthApp entry, click Medical ID, and then click Edit. On Android, you can go to the Personal Security app, click the gear icon in the upper left corner of the screen, and set up your emergency contact.

Ask for Digital Assistant

By default, both iOS and Android allow you to access their digital assistants directly from the lock screen—Siri and Google Assistant, respectively (unless the phone owner has disabled this feature).

To call up the assistant on an iPhone without the Home button, press and hold the Power button . For iPhones with Home buttons (usually older models), press and hold the Home button instead). On Android, slide up from one of the bottom corners of the lock screen.

Once you have accessed Siri or Google Assistant, try saying “Call Mom”, “Call Home” or other commands that may access one of the phone owner’s contacts. Siri also has a trick that Google Assistant doesn't have: ask "Whose phone is this?" to show the owner's contact information (if they provide it).

Take a photo

At this point, you have exhausted all the options to contact the owner of your phone through their contact information. Now it's time to get creative. For example, this person may have set up some kind of photo and video backup system. This means that all photos and movies taken on your phone will be synced to the cloud — and to the owner’s other devices.

You can usually access your smartphone's camera from the lock screen: on iOS, swipe left; on Android, double-click the power button . To take advantage of this, take an image of your personal contact information. If the photos are synced to the phone owner's backup system, they can easily contact you.

Set reminder

Similarly, you can set up reminders using Siri or Google Assistant, which can be seen from other devices by phone owners. On iOS, hold the power button (if present, hold the Home button); on Android, swipe up from one of the bottom corners of the screen. When the Assistant app appears, say "Set a reminder to call every day at 2pm..." and say your name and number.

If the owner of the phone is already logged into his Apple or Google account on any of his other devices, they should be able to access the reminder there. In this case, they will see the notes you left pop up every day at 2pm (or any time you choose). After that, it depends on whether they contact you.

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