What to Do If Your Phone Is Stolen

Losing your phone to theft is stressful enough without also worrying about what someone could do with it. The good news: if you act quickly and in the right order, you can lock most attackers out within minutes — even without the device in hand.

Here’s exactly what to do, step by step.

Step 1: Lock and locate the device remotely

Do this first, before anything else — every minute counts.

iPhone: Go to iCloud.com/find or use the Find My app on another Apple device. Select your phone, then choose “Mark As Lost.” This locks the phone with your passcode, displays a custom message on the screen, and disables Apple Pay.
Android: Go to android.com/find (or use Find My Device on another Android phone). Select your device, then choose “Secure Device” to lock it remotely and display a message.

Marking the device as lost also lets you see its last known location, which can help if you filed a police report (more on that below) — but don’t attempt to retrieve it yourself if that could put you at risk. Let the authorities handle it.

Step 2: Change your most important passwords

Assume the thief may eventually bypass the lock screen or that you were logged into sensitive apps. Prioritize in this order:

Email accounts — since email is usually the recovery method for everything else
Banking and payment apps
Social media accounts
Password manager master password, if you have one

Do this from a different device (a laptop, tablet, or a trusted friend’s phone) — not the stolen one.

Step 3: Notify your carrier

Call your mobile carrier and report the phone as stolen. They can:

Suspend your SIM card to prevent calls, texts, and mobile data use on your line
Blacklist the device’s IMEI number, which makes it much harder to resell or reactivate on most networks
Help you transfer your number to a new device

You’ll need your IMEI number for this — if you don’t have it memorized, check your phone’s original box, your carrier account, or a previous bill, since you obviously can’t retrieve it from the phone itself now.

Step 4: Remotely wipe the device (if it’s not coming back)

If you’re confident the phone is gone for good, a full remote wipe erases everything on it — safer than leaving personal data at risk, even behind a lock screen.

iPhone: In Find My, select “Erase This Device”
Android: In Find My Device, select “Erase Device”

One important trade-off: once you wipe the device, you’ll usually lose the ability to track its location afterward. If you’ve already filed a police report and shared the location, wiping is generally the safer choice at this point.

Step 5: Report it to the police

File a police report, especially if:

The phone was stolen (not simply lost)
You have insurance or a carrier protection plan that requires a report
You want an official record in case the stolen information is used for fraud later

Bring your IMEI number and any location data you retrieved in Step 1.

Step 6: Check for unauthorized activity

Over the next few days, keep an eye on:

Bank and credit card statements for unfamiliar charges
Login alerts from your email and major accounts
Any new device notifications on accounts that support them

If you had banking or payment apps on the phone, consider calling your bank directly to flag the situation — most banks can add extra monitoring or a temporary hold if you ask.

Prevention: what to set up before it happens again

Enable Find My iPhone or Find My Device now, before you need it — it can’t help you after the fact if it wasn’t already turned on
Use a strong lock screen method (PIN, biometric) rather than no lock or a simple pattern
Turn on two-factor authentication for your important accounts, so a stolen device alone isn’t enough to get in
Save your IMEI number somewhere other than the phone itself (a notes app on your computer, or written down)

The bottom line

The single biggest factor in how much damage a stolen phone can cause is how fast you act. Locking and locating the device takes less than two minutes if Find My was already set up — the rest of this list is about containing the damage everywhere else the phone had access to.

This article is for general informational purposes and isn’t a substitute for guidance from your device manufacturer, carrier, or local law enforcement. Exact steps and menu names may vary slightly by device model and operating system version.