Find my Android phone from a Mac: ring it, locate it, lock it

Open android.com/find in any browser on the Mac, sign in with the Google Account that is on the phone, and Google's Find Hub shows the phone on a map and lets you play a sound, mark it as lost, or erase it. That is Google's own feature, it is free, and it works from Safari or Chrome on macOS as well as it does from another phone. Apple's Find My app on the Mac cannot see an Android phone, and The Relay does not locate phones.

How do I find the phone from the Mac right now?

Google's page Find, secure, or erase a lost Android device gives the steps. The Find Hub app is for Android; on a computer, Google says, "On a browser, go to Find Hub."

1. On the Mac, open a browser and go to android.com/find.
2. Sign in to the Google Account that is on the phone. If the phone has more than one user profile, Google says to use an account on the main profile.
3. Select the phone from the list. Google says the lost device gets a notification.
4. You may be asked for the phone's lock screen PIN. Google says this applies to Android 9 or later, and that a phone without a PIN or on Android 8 or lower may prompt for your Google password instead.
5. Read the map, then choose an action.

The actions, in Google's words:

• Play sound. "Rings your device at full volume for 5 minutes, even if it's set to silent or vibrate."
• Mark as lost. "Locks your device with your PIN, pattern, or password." You can add contact details and a message for the lock screen.
• Factory reset. Found under the device's settings in Find Hub. Google warns that it "permanently delete[s] all data on your device, but may not delete SD cards", and that a reset device "will no longer be available in Find Hub". If you find the phone afterwards, you need the Google Account password to use it again.

Google says the location is estimated from GPS, nearby Wi-Fi networks, and cell towers, and that the radius on the map shows its confidence. If the phone cannot be reached, "you may still find its last known location, if available".

What does the phone need before it goes missing?

Most of it is on by default. Google's page says that if you have added a Google Account to the device, "Find Hub is automatically turned on". Its checklist for securing or erasing a device is that the phone:

• has power,
• is connected to mobile data or Wi-Fi,
• is signed in to a Google Account,
• has Find Hub turned on, and
• is visible on Google Play.

Google's companion page Be ready to find a lost Android device walks through checking each one on the phone: Settings, then Security, then Find Hub, with Allow device to be located on; Location on; and the device listed at play.google.com/library/devices. It also describes Find your offline devices, which stores encrypted recent locations and uses the Find Hub network, "a crowdsourced network of Android devices", to help find a phone that is offline. Google says that on supported devices such as the Pixel 8 series, the network "can still locate the phone for several hours after it's turned off". Its step 6 is the one to do today: open android.com/find on the Mac while the phone is in your pocket and confirm it appears.

One step on that page matters more for a Mac owner than it looks. Google's step 8 says that to lock or erase the device remotely you must have 2-Step Verification on, and that since the lost phone "could be your method of 2-Step Verification", you need a backup code. If the phone is your only second factor, signing in on the Mac to find it could be the moment you are locked out. Print backup codes now, or add a second method. The wider topic is in authenticator codes from Android on a Mac.

The phone is somewhere in the house. Is there a quicker way?

Play sound from Find Hub works for that, as long as the phone has a connection. Two other things help when the phone is under a cushion rather than on a bus.

• KDE Connect's Ring My Phone. The free app's wiki lists a plugin that will "find your lost phone by making it play an alarm sound", and notes it doubles as a test of the connection. It needs the phone and the Mac paired on the same network, and its download page lists a stable macOS release. See KDE Connect on a Mac.
• Call it. From the Mac, that needs a calling service of its own; see making calls from a Mac with an Android phone. Or ask the nearest person with a phone.

Why can Apple's Find My not do this?

Apple's page How to turn on Find My on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac describes turning the feature on for an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, adding AirPods and an Apple Watch, and attaching an AirTag to other items. An Android phone appears nowhere in it. Apple describes its Find My network as "a crowdsourced network of over a billion Apple devices", and Google describes the Find Hub network as a crowdsourced network of Android devices. Each finds its own. The nearest crossover Google documents is for tracker tags, not phones: its page describes identifying someone else's lost accessory by holding it to the back of an Android phone.

Does The Relay locate the phone?

No. The Relay does not locate, ring, lock, or erase a phone, and it is not the tool for this job. Google's Find Hub is. The Relay connects a phone and a Mac that are on the same network or within Bluetooth range, for clipboard, files, texts and login codes, notifications, calls, links, and the phone as a webcam. If you use it, there is one small side effect worth knowing: a phone that is paired and nearby is a phone that is close. That is a hint, not a feature.

What should I do in order if the phone is really lost?

1. On the Mac, open android.com/find and locate the phone.
2. If it is nearby, play the sound.
3. If it is not, mark it as lost with a contact number for whoever finds it.
4. Change your Google Account password from the Mac, and sign out of the lost device from the account's device list.
5. Contact your carrier to suspend the SIM. Google says the carrier can disable the device using its IMEI number, which Find Hub shows under the device's settings.
6. Erase it only when you are sure it is not coming back, since Google says it then drops out of Find Hub.

Google's page on lost devices links to its advice on securing your Google Account; follow it, since a phone usually holds a signed-in account.

Questions people ask

Can I find my Android phone from a Mac without installing anything?

Yes. Google's Find Hub works in a browser at android.com/find. No Mac app is needed.

Does the phone have to be online?

To play a sound, lock, or erase, Google's list says the phone needs power and a mobile data or Wi-Fi connection. For location, Google says you may still see the last known location, and that the Find Hub network can help find offline devices if Find your offline devices is on.

Can Apple's Find My app find an Android phone?

No. Apple's page covers iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and AirTag. Use Google's Find Hub in a browser instead.

Will Find Hub work if someone has turned the phone off?

Google says that on supported devices, such as the Pixel 8 series, the Find Hub network can still locate the phone for several hours after it is turned off, if the offline-finding setting is on. On other phones, expect a last known location.