A phone holds your photos, messages, banking and email — losing it or having it opened by a stranger is a real risk. These five settings take less than fifteen minutes and protect you in the situations that actually happen.
1. Use a strong screen lock
Set a PIN of at least six digits, or a fingerprint plus PIN. Avoid simple patterns and birthdays. In Settings → Security → Screen lock you can also set the phone to lock immediately, not after a delay.
2. Turn on Find My Device
Go to Settings → Security → Find My Device and switch it on. If the phone is lost or stolen, you can see its location, make it ring, lock it or erase it from any browser at google.com/android/find.
3. Keep the phone updated
Security updates close the holes that attackers use. Check Settings → System → System update and Settings → Security → Google Play system update, and install whatever is waiting. Turn on automatic updates where offered.
4. Review app permissions
Open Settings → Privacy → Permission manager. A torch app does not need your contacts, and a game does not need your microphone. Remove permissions that do not make sense, and uninstall apps you no longer use.
- Only install apps from the Google Play Store — apps from websites or messages are the main way phones get infected.
- Keep Google Play Protect switched on (Play Store → profile picture → Play Protect).
5. Protect your Google account
Your Google account is the master key to the phone. Turn on two-step verification at myaccount.google.com/security and check the list of devices signed in to your account — remove anything you do not recognise.
Tips and tricks
- Hide notification content on the lock screen so a finder cannot read your codes: Settings → Notifications → Lock screen.
- Back up photos to Google Photos so a lost phone does not mean lost memories.
- Write down the phone's IMEI number (dial *#06#) — the police and your provider will ask for it if the phone is stolen.
With these five settings in place, a lost phone is an inconvenience instead of a disaster. If you would like help checking them on your own phone, the Digital Checkup is made exactly for that.