Remotely locking and deleting data from your phone is a key security mechanism in case your device is stolen or lost. Even if someone intercepts your phone, your sensitive data can be deleted from the device in time.
How to block an Android phone?
Requirements to remotely lock and wipe data from your Android device:
- Battery charged.
- Connecting the phone to a mobile network or Wi-Fi.
- Being signed in to your Google account.
- Find my device service active/enabled
Read how to do it in the remote device location guide.
Once these criteria are met, remote locking and wiping of data from your device will become possible, and activating these features will be a piece of cake.
- Sign in to your Google account.
- Go to the website Find My Device and log in with your Google account.
- A map with the last sent location of your device will be displayed on the right, and options to choose from on the left:
- Play a sound: starts the device ringing for 5 minutes at maximum volume, even if the phone was previously muted or set to vibrate.
- Secure your device: You can remotely lock your devices with a PIN or password. You can display a message or phone number on the lock screen to help someone return your device.
- Erase device: an option that permanently deletes data stored on the device.
Note:
– The contents of the SD card may not be deleted.
– Once the data is deleted, the Find My Device service will stop working on your device.
How to block an iOS phone?
- Make sure “Find My iPhone” is turned on. Don’t know how to do it? Read our latest guide “Step By Step: Activating Remote Location on Your Phone”.
- Sign in to iCloud.com using your Apple ID.
- Select the “Find” application
- Click on the green dot on the map that indicates your device’s last known location.
- Options will appear on the left:
Lost Mode – for blocking your device remotely
The functionality allows you to lock Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Apple Watch, preventing others from accessing your personal information.
What happens when I use Lost Mode and lock my device?
- A lock confirmation email will be sent to the email address associated with your Apple ID.
- Your message may appear on the device, e.g. with information on how to contact you and where to return the phone.
- For iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch, the device does not display any messages or play sounds for incoming messages, notifications, or alarms. The device can still receive phone calls and FaceTime calls.
- Affected devices will have payment cards and other services suspended.
Erase iPhone – for remote data deletion
If you are concerned that someone may have physically gained access to your device and there is a risk of violating the built-in security mechanisms, you have the option of restarting, i.e. restoring factory settings.
What happens after remotely wiping the device?
- All data and personalizations you have made since purchase will be deleted, including all installed applications.
- All privacy settings will be reset, which means apps will no longer have access to your location or other personal data.
- The operating system will be updated to the latest available version.
If the device is on the network, the remote data wipe process will begin immediately after confirming the instructions. If the device is out of network coverage, data will be erased as soon as it appears on the network.
Cancel erase
If you enable wiping on a device that is offline and you find it before it connects to the network, you can cancel the wiping request.
- Select “Devices” at the bottom of the screen, then tap the name of the device for which you want to cancel this operation
- Click “Cancel Erase” and confirm with your Apple ID password.
Protecting your phone against data loss is very important and easy to do if you know how to do it. Don’t wait until you become a victim of theft or burglary. Secure your device now by following the instructions in this guide.
With remote data blocking and wiping functions, you can significantly increase the security of your device and protect your valuable information.
