There is only one thing worse than losing your mobile phone, and that is losing your phone full of personal data. If the thought of someone having access to your apps, contacts or emails terrifies you then we have the solution.
If you take all the arrangements described below then you can have peace of mind if you misplace your phone.
If you have your phone
If you want to remotely erase data from your phone, you must install the Google “find my device” application and go to the settings settings.
- Go to the Play Store and download Find my device
- Go to Settings / Security / Find my device
- Make sure "Find my device" is activated
- Allow the app to locate your device.
Find my device also works for tablets, but if there are multiple users of the tablet, only the owner of the device will have access to these features.
Note that there are a few additional precautions you can take to increase your safety:
- Do not store sensitive data on microSD cards
- Make sure you have an access code that is relatively difficult to guess
- Think of installing apps as Airdroid ou Lookout. These 2 applications make it possible to erase data remotely but also to transfer data.
Clear data from your smartphone Android wherever you are
You lost your phone. Now is the time to go to the “Find My Device” app via a device Android or by going to this site.
Once logged in, “Find my device” will try to locate your device. If your phone is on and signaling then you will see its location on the map. 3 options will also be offered to you:
- Ring it
- Lock it
- Erase data.
If the mobile is switched off or does not emit or receive any signal, the application will note its location when it is switched on or when it connects to a WiFi or cellular network.
At this point, you will be able to erase all data from your phone, but before we get to this option, you can make sure of 2 things:
Check that your phone is not just lost
In most cases, the phone is just misplaced and not stolen. You can use “Find My Device” to ring the device for as long as you need.
This allows you to find it if it has slipped between the cushions of your sofa, on the floor of your car or in the doghouse.
Change the screen lock message
This is another option to consider before the irremediable erasure of your data: change the screen lock message so that the next time it is turned on your message is displayed to whoever has your device. mobile. A polite message like "call me please" along with the promise of a reward for returning the phone might do the trick.
Otherwise, you have the nuclear option of data erasure.
It is time to erase all the data then, but you should know that:
- MicroSd card memory will not be erased
- If you later find your device, you will need your Google password to unlock it.
- You will no longer be able to use the "Find my device" application after deletion.
Activating data erasure is equivalent to performing a " factory reset », Your settings, music, photos, contacts will be lost forever.
If your phone is offline when giving the instruction, the data will be automatically erased as soon as the phone reconnects to a network.