How to find your phone if it is turned off

Losing your cell phone is always an unpleasant event. Bank cards, social networking accounts, contacts, personal photos and videos - no one wants such information to fall into the hands of intruders. Even the device itself can be a memorable gift, or a favorite and quite expensive thing. That's why when you lose your phone, we start looking for every possible way to find the missing gadget, including if it's offline.

Most smartphone and tablet owners are aware of the Google and Apple services that allow them to determine the location of the turned on device (provided it is connected to the Internet). But what to do if it's been hours or even days since the device went missing? Hope that someone will find your smartphone or tablet, charge it, and try to return it to its owner? Of course, this would be an excellent development, but it is, alas, very rare. So it's worth looking for opportunities to find your lost phone or tablet on your own.

How to find a disconnected phone at home

The easiest way to find a lost smartphone or tablet within your home is to wait for the alarm clock to ring. All you have to do is wait for the alarm clock to ring. After all, on almost all modern devices such beeps are triggered regardless of whether or not the battery power is enough to turn on the equipment.

Also, this method is suitable if you forgot your phone at home at friends or relatives, left it in your favorite bar or restaurant, dropped it in the office or shopping mall. But if your device was not lost, but stolen, then it makes no sense to wait for the alarm clock to ring.

How to find the phone: IMEI search method

IMEI is a personal digital identifier assigned by the manufacturer to each mobile device. You can find it out by reading the box on your smartphone or tablet, or by entering a short five-digit query (*#06#) on your device.

Tip: If you have not kept the packaging from your gadget, and you view this article only to get acquainted with the issue, we recommend to find out the IMEI of the phone and save it in a separate document, which you can access even if you lose the device.

There is a common belief that only the police can find your tablet or smartphone by IMEI. In fact, this is not the case, but we will tell you about other options below. Although when you lose your gadget, it is still worth immediately contacting the nearest department and provide:

• the box from the device or a copied IMEI;
• A receipt or warranty card confirming that you are the owner of the device;
• an identity document.

In this case, the police will contact the cellular operator, which will immediately block the compromised device when it comes online. That is, if your smartphone was stolen for profit, then the attackers will not be able to earn any tangible amount of money or get your personal data.

How to find a phone if it's offline

If by offline we mean no connection to the Internet, there are effective ways to track the device by phone number. But we will talk about them a little bit below.

When it comes to a switched off device, it will be quite difficult to find such a device without law enforcement. There are only a few software tools that allow you to track the signal of the SIM-card until it is removed from the slot. Let's look at why.

In modern movies we have seen more than once how the main character, fleeing from the chase, turns off the phone, then takes out the battery and smashes the device itself. Such actions make sense only if the gadget (with a remote SIM) has an additional tracking module (a spy "bug"). In all other situations, the operation of the switched off phone is as follows:

• the gadget turns off when the battery charge is minimal;
• The remaining charge is enough only to monitor the battery consumption, turn on the alarm clock and connect to the USB port;
• the rest of the processes, including the operation of the RF module, are disabled to save power.

Consequently, the device does not transmit or receive any external signals, except those transmitted between the SIM card and the base station. That is, it remains inaccessible to satellites and other "tracking" devices (and with a remote SIM, also to base stations).

How to find a smartphone or tablet by phone number

Most existing phone finder programs require GPS enabled and an active Internet connection. If one of these conditions is not met, it will be quite difficult to find the device.

Mobile operators have the ability to find the phone by SIM, but they begin their work only after the police apply to them. That is, an ordinary person cannot come to a mobile phone shop and demand to find his smartphone or tablet. First, the user must go to the police and write a statement. Then, the law enforcement officers will contact the representatives of the mobile operator, which owns the SIM in the lost phone, and initiate a search.

But there is another proven method to help locate your phone if it is offline. The Web application H-T Locator searches for lost gadgets by phone number, i.e. by the signal broadcasted by the SIM card, and by IMEI (just like mobile operators do). After the process is initialized, the program will connect to the subscriber's mobile network and access the data transmitted from the base stations to the user's device and back.

N-T Locator allows:

• to find out the current location of the device;
• trace the route of the movement;
• get the exact geographic coordinates.

To track geolocation, all you have to do is enter your phone number in international format and click "Search". The process of collecting information usually takes no more than 10-15 minutes and allows you to find a missing gadget as quickly as possible.

When searching, keep in mind that a switched off phone can be found only by ringing the alarm clock. As we wrote above, other functions become inaccessible when the battery is low. So the sooner you start looking for your phone or tablet, the better your chances of getting your lost gadget back.

Applying to the operator and to law enforcement agencies is always a long process, which, because of its inherent bureaucracy, minimizes the likelihood of a successful search. Therefore, if you want to get your gadget back quickly, you should also search for it yourself.

H-T locator is the fastest solution that will help to find the phone, even if it is offline. All the more the presented method will be relevant for those who suspect that the phone has been stolen and the SIM will be removed from it in the near future. It is recommended not to lose a minute and as soon as possible to start to determine the location of expensive and important for you device.