The 5 Best Methods to Track a Lost or Stolen iPhone

Summary: Lost your iPhone? Don’t worry, here we tell you how to track lost or stolen iPhone using various techniques. Also, learn how to erase your iPhone data permanently to prevent it from reaching in wrong hands or misuse, using Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone.

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Q. I cannot live without my iPhone. It was stolen yesterday and can’t recall where I lost it. It has been switched off. Can I track the location of my iPhone? Is there any way to track lost iPhones?

A. Don’t panic. Log in to ‘Find My iPhone’ via iCloud.com and set it to ‘Lost Mode’. To know what else you can do now to track the iPhone location, read this post.

Losing an iPhone (and for that matter any smartphone) is tormenting. Besides the upfront costs, there’s an incredible amount of personal data at stake. Today, smartphones not only store personal photos, videos, and music libraries but might also contain an incredible amount of sensitive information in the form of browsing history, social data, app traces, etc. So the apprehension of exploitation and misuse of the data stored in a stolen or lost iPhone is but real.

So, as soon as you discover that your iPhone has been stolen or lost, first, try to track the location of your missing device and lock it.

How to track a lost or stolen iPhone?

Try out the following methods

1. Use Find My iPhone
2. Track through Apple’s Family Sharing
3. Use Google Timeline
4. Try Google Photos
5. Use location-tracking apps

Method 1: Use Find My iPhone

If Find My iPhone is enabled on your stolen iPhone, you can do the following:

• Locate your mobile phone
• Protect your iPhone data by choosing Lost Mode or erasing the data remotely

How to use Find My iPhone when the phone is missing

• Sign in to icloud.com on your computer.
• Click on the Find My iPhone link at the bottom.
• On the Find My iPhone’s map interface, select your lost iPhone via the All Devices drop-down menu. The app starts tracking your iPhone location on the map.

As you see the location of your device you can choose to do the following

• Play sound (if your iPhone is nearby, you can trace it with sound)
• Activate ‘Lost Mode’ (this locks your device and still tracks it)

What does Lost Mode do to your device?

• Remotely locks your device
• Displays a message with your phone number on the missing iPhone’s Lock Screen
• Keeps track of your device location.
• Erase iPhone remotely (with this action you won’t be able to track your iPhone but data is prevented from slipping into the wrong hands)

How to erase iPhone data remotely?

Choosing to erase the iPhone remotely deletes the complete data from it.

Note: Always remember to copy important photos, videos, music, and other data on iCloud backup before remotely erasing the iPhone.

Use a trusted and safe data recovery solution such as Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone to restore lost files from iCloud. The software allows the recovery of specific data rather than recovering the entire data.

Method 2: Track iPhone through Family Sharing

If you have set up Family Sharing, use it to track your iPhone. Family Sharing helps the members to know each one’s device location. Ask another member in the Family Sharing group to trace your iPhone via the Find My iPhone app. The member can also sign into iCloud.com to locate the missing iPhone.

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Is your missing iPhone switched off or offline?

If the missing iPhone is switched off or showing offline in Family Sharing, you can still activate Lost Mode or remotely erase its data via Find My iPhone.
Note: The iPhone’s last known location remains only for one day. In case your device is offline for over 24 hours, you cannot trace its last location.

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What to do when ‘Find My iPhone’ is NOT enabled or the missing iPhone is offline for more than one day?

• Change your Apple ID passwords to prevent anyone from accessing your data.
• Change your social media and other Internet account passwords like Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Report the device as missing to the authorities.
• Report your network carrier to disable the services like calls, messages, or data use.

Method 3: Use Google Timeline to find lost iPhone

If you have turned on Location Services and Location History on your iPhone, Google’s Timeline will record all the locations of your device.

When an iPhone goes missing, access the location information on a map and find the last location. Remember, Google Timeline records the location only when the iPhone is switched on with an internet connection.

How to see the last location of a lost iPhone in Google Timeline

• Visit <com/maps/timeline> on your computer.
• Sign in to your Google account.
• Click Today or select Date.
• Scroll down to see the last reported location of your iPhone.

Along with the location, note the time when your phone was last connected to Google. Taking clues from the location and time information, you can find your lost iPhone. If needed, take the help of cops.

Method 4: Take location clue from Google Photos

If anyone has captured a photo from your lost iPhone and you have the Google Photos location-sharing option enabled, then luck is on your side.

Visit <photos.google.com/>. Check, if any new photos were uploaded and view their upload location.

Method 5: Location tracking apps

If you have installed any location-tracking app such as GPS Location Tracker, CocoSpy Cell Phone Tracker, or iTrack on your missing device, use it to track the lost or stolen iPhone. These apps share the real-time location of your device on your computer or other connected devices.

Conclusion

Apple’s Find My iPhone feature is the best way to track the location of a stolen or missing device. If Find My iPhone is not enabled you can try Google Timeline or Google Photos. Other than these methods, third-party apps can also help track a lost iPhone, but only if you have installed them before the phone was lost.

Nevertheless, ensure that you copy the iCloud backup of the stolen iPhone before taking any of the above steps.

A smarter way is to filter out the data that you want to keep, with the help of Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone.

Is this post helpful? Share your experience in the comments below, how you managed to track and get back your stolen iPhone.

Recover Lost Photos during Transfer from iPhone to PC or Mac

Summary: Lost your precious photos during the transfer from iPhone to computer? Learn 4 ways to recover photos lost during transfer. These methods are applicable to all variants of iPhone and iPad or in short all iOS devices.

Transferring photos from iPhone 15, 14/13/12/X/8/7 to PC or Mac system is a simple task that can often get skewed causing serious photo loss situations. If you have also lost your valuable photos during one such event of photos transfer, then here’s a guide to get back photos lost during the transfer.

Photo loss while transferring from iPhone to a computer is a common problem faced by many. You try to transfer your photos from your iPhone to your computer and select the location to save them.

But when you check the drive folder in the system, to your shock the photos are not there! And if this is a ‘cut and paste’ transfer from iPhone, it’s a big jolt for you.

But do not worry, thankfully, data recovery technology is always there to recover lost photos in any situation.

There can be several reasons for the loss of photos during transfer, such as below:

• Sudden power failure during the transfer of photos
• Disconnecting iPhone from the PC/Mac while transferring photos
• Lack of enough space in the drive to save the photos
• Corruption of the drive in which you saved the photos
• Virus in the system
• Anti-virus on your PC/Mac scans and detects viruses in the photo resulting in photo loss

How to Recover Photos Lost during Transfer from iPhone 15, 14/13/12/11/X/8/7 to PC/Mac?

Typically, if you have not deleted the required photos from your iPhone, try transferring them again from the device to the PC or Mac. If already deleted then, try the below methods to recover the photos lost during transfer from iPhone 15, 14/13/12/11/X/8/7 to PC or Mac.

Solution 1: Search for missing photos in the PC/Mac hard drive

It might be possible you transferred the iPhone photos to the PC but forgot the location where you saved them. Try once searching the complete hard drive for your photos.

1. Click on My PC or My Computer
2. Type the command kind:=picture into the search box and press Enter
3. The list of images will be displayed
4. Right-click on the required photos from the search results, and click Open File Location to view where they are saved

For MAC follow the below steps:

1. Open the Finder and go to your home directory
2. Go to the Pictures folder
3. Right-click on Photos Library.photoslibrary and select Show Package Contents
4. Open the folder Masters to find the images in the Photos app. The Masters folder comprises the photos by date in subfolders. You can open the folders of the relevant dates to find your pictures.

Solution 2: Recover lost transferred photos from iTunes Backup

If you have synced your iPhone to iTunes, you can recover lost photos from this Apple’s backup utility.

Drawback: You cannot selectively pick the lost photos during the file transfer, rather complete data of iTunes is saved on your PC/Mac.

| Note: In Mac, the iTunes backup is stored in Library > Application Support > MobileSync > Backup.
In Windows 7, 8, 10, & 11 the iTunes backup is stored in Users > username > AppData > Roaming > Apple Computer > MobileSync > Backup.

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Solution 3: Recover Lost Photos from iCloud

If you have iCloud backup of the iOS device, you can recover photos lost during transfer through the cloud facility.

Drawbacks: You cannot directly restore iCloud backup photos on your PC or Mac. It is saved only to an iOS device.
You have to reset your iPhone X/8/7 to factory settings to restore the iCloud backup on it.

How to recover data from iCloud Backup on a computer

1. Take the backup of your iPhone data on iTunes
2. Reset your iPhone to factory settings
3. Go to the Apps & Data screen of your iPhone by pressing the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds and following the onscreen instructions
4. Under Apps & Data, click on Restore from iCloud Backup
5. Sign in to iCloud by entering your Apple ID
6. Select Choose Backup and pick the relevant one from the list of backups
7. Tap After completion of the process, the iPhone restarts and recovers complete data including photos, apps, videos, etc.
8. Select the required photos from the recovered data and transfer them again to your PC or Mac from iPhone

Tip: For selective recovery of lost photos from iCloud/iTunes use Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone . It recovers missing Photos from Camera Roll and Photo Stream in iCloud/iTunes/iPhone. You can preview, select and save only the desired photos at your preferred location.

Solution 4: Use the Best Photo Recovery Software

When no backup, take the help of a third-party photo recovery tool. This is regarded as the easiest way to recover lost photos during the transfer from iPhone 15, 14/13/12/11/XR/XS/X/8/7 to PC/Mac. Use a risk-free application – Stellar Photo Recovery to recover your lost photos from your PC or Mac

The do-it-yourself software recovers all types of media files lost due to deletion, corruption, virus infection or accidental formatting, etc.

How to recover lost photos using Stellar Photo Recovery?

1. Launch Stellar Photo Recovery Software.
2. On the home screen of the software – ‘Select What to Recover’. Click Next.
3. Next, select the location from where you want to recover. Click Scan to start the scanning process
4. A dialog box of ‘Scanning Completed Successfully!’ displays the scan results – the number of files found and the size of the data. In the left pane of the main window, all the recovered data is listed. You can preview them in the right pane.
   Note: If you do not see the required photos in the list, opt for the Deep Scan option at the bottom.
5. Click Recover. You can also choose to recover only the selective files – select the photos that you need, right-click, and click Recover.
6. In the dialog box, specify the location to save the image files. Click Save. All the files get saved at the specified location Click Save. All the files get saved at the specified location.

Conclusion

Backup is the undisputable solution to any kind of photo loss situation. However, if you have not taken your photos backup in iTunes, iCloud, or other storage media, recovery through Stellar Photo Recovery software is the best way to get back photos lost during transfer from iPhone 15, 14/13/12/XS/XR/X/7/8 to PC or Mac.

How to Recover Deleted Data from iPhone using Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone?

Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone is an ideal tool for efficiently recovering deleted data from iPhone devices. This software can recover photos, videos, messages, call history, calendar, notes, etc. The tool uses an advanced algorithm, which scans through the memory and recovers data from any cases of data loss. In addition, this iPhone data recovery software  also uses a very simple and easy-to-use graphical user interface, making the entire process very easy to perform. Therefore, you can follow the below-mentioned steps to recover deleted photos and contacts from an iPhone device using Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone.

 

Note: Run the latest version of iTunes services before launching the software.

1. Connect your iPhone to a computer via USB cable for recovery from iPhone. Once you launch the software, you have three options to choose from. Recover from iPhone, Recover from iTunes backup and Recover from iCloud backup.

2. Once Computer detects your iPhone, select ‘Recover from iPhone’, choose what you want to recover, and click “next”. It will show you the iOS devices connected to your system. Next, select your device and click “scan.”

3. After scanning the device, you will see details of all the recoverable items listed in the left-hand side panel.

4.   Now select and preview the required items by clicking the corresponding checkbox in front of each item.

5.   Click on ‘Save’ option to save the recovered items either on the Computer or iPhone depending on chosen location

Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone® Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone® is the best DIY software to recover missing or accidentally deleted Contacts, Messages, Calendar, Photos, Videos, Call History etc directly from iPhone or iPad.

Forgot iPhone Password? – Here are the Best Solutions

Summary: Can’t remember your iPhone password? This post brings the best solutions to fix forgotten password issue and restore your data from the locked iPhone.

Setting up a password on your iPhone is a great way to keep unauthorized access at bay but what if you forget the password? On a positive note, you can still access or restore your iPhone Data and this blog highlights some best solutions for forgotten iPhone password.

Password enabled iPhone ensures that no one can access it without your permission and is a great way to stop prying eyes from accessing your personal data. But what if you itself forget the password? Isn’t that a problematic situation? Obviously, as you cannot unlock your iPhone and access the data. Further, if you enter the wrong password six times, then a message is displayed stating that the iPhone has been disabled.

Figure 1. If you enter the wrong password six times in a row, then a message will be displayed stating that your iPhone has been disabled.

If you’re lucky then you might be able to unlock your iPhone and access the data stored on it else there is a probability that you may end up losing your data in the process of unlocking it.

Forgot iPhone passcode? What to do next?

Alright, I know it’s next to impossible that you will ever forget your passcode but we cannot overlook the fact that, yes there is a chance that you may forget it. The majority of us will say that we use fingerprint identity sensor (Touch ID) and hardly use a numeric passcode. Well, suppose your Touch ID stops working properly and to fix it you need to go to Settings < Touch ID & Passcode < Enter the Passcode.

Wait! What! You need to enter the passcode to get the Touch ID working again and you thought that you’d never need to remember the passcode. If you have a backup of your data, then all you have to do is simply reset your iPhone and restore your data from the backup. Unfortunately, you’ll only restore data that has been backed up and any new data added after that won’t be there. That said, let’s delve into some of the best solutions for forgotten iPhone password.
If you’ve forgotten the password, these options will help you out:

• Erase your iOS device with iTunes to remove the password
• Erase the passcode with iCloud
• Use Recovery mode if you’re unable to connect to either iCloud or iTunes
• Leverage an iPhone data recovery to recover deleted/lost data

Erase your iPhone with iTunes, restore files from it and remove the passcode

If you’ve synced your iPhone with iTunes, you can restore your files from it. Further, this will erase all the data and the passcode. To restore your data and remove the passcode, follow these steps:

i. Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch iTunes
ii. If you’re asked for the passcode, try another computer with which you’ve synced your iPhone, else proceed with either iCloud or Recovery mode
iii. Sync your iPhone with iTunes and make a backup of it
iv. On your iPhone set up the screen, choose Restore from iTunes backup
v. In iTunes select your iPhone and select the relevant backup

This process will restore all your data on iPhone. Now, configure a new passcode and never forget it.

Figure 2 illustrates to erase the data & passcode and to restore your iPhone

Erase the passcode with iCloud

Follow these steps to erase the passcode of your iPhone with iCloud:

i. Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your valid Apple credentials to view the iCloud dashboard.
ii. At the top of the dashboard, select ‘All Devices’ and select your iPhone from the given list
iii. Click on ‘Erase’ to erase the passcode
iv. On the setup screen on your iPhone, choose the restore from a backup option to restore files from the iCloud backup

Important: You can erase your iPhone with Find My iPhone as long as it is connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular network.

Use Recovery mode to erase the passcode

If you’ve never synced your iPhone with iTunes or iCloud, then you need to erase the passcode in the Recovery mode. Follow these steps to erase the passcode:
i. Connect your iPhone to your system and force restart it. Different versions of iPhone have different settings; therefore, follow these settings depending on your iPhone

1. iPhone 8/8 Plus: Press and release the Volume up button and then quickly press and release the Volume down button. Press and hold the Side button until the recovery mode screen appears
2. iPhone 7/7 Plus: Press and keep holding both the Side and Volume down buttons until you see the recovery mode screen
3. iPhone 6S and earlier: Press and keep holding the Home and the Side buttons until the recovery mode screen appears

ii. Finally, after restarting the iPhone, select Restore from the given options

Figure 3 illustrates to restore iPhone via recovery mode

iii. Wait for the process to finish and then restore your files to your iPhone and set up a new passcode

Get more help

If due to any reason you lose your data stored on iPhone during the whole process, then you can utilize an iPhone data recovery software and recover all your lost data. Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone is a robust iPhone data recovery software which efficiently brings back all your lost data. Moreover, the software facilitates three recovery option namely:

 

• Recover from iPhone
• Recover from iTunes Backup
• Recover from iCloud backup

Figure 3 illustrates the home screen of Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone software

At Last

After restoring your iPhone , make sure that you never ever forget the passcode. The key is to create a strong passcode which is easy to remember. Further, if your iPhone gets stuck in recovery mode or due to any reason you’re unable to unlock your device, contact Apple support or visit the nearest service centre.

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