Phone Theft Protection: 10 Settings to Turn On Today (2026)

Phone thieves rarely want just the phone. The real prize is what’s inside: your bank apps, email, saved passwords and the phone number that receives your one-time codes. A typical snatch is followed by a race — airplane mode, SIM out, try to get into your accounts before you can react.

The settings below slow that race to a crawl. Most take under a minute, and together they make your phone worthless to resell and very hard to break into. Do them today, while the phone is still in your hand.

iPhone: the four essentials

1. Turn on Stolen Device Protection

Go to Settings › Face ID & Passcode › Stolen Device Protection and turn it on (iOS 17.3 or later). Away from familiar places like home or work, sensitive actions — viewing saved passwords, turning off Find My, changing your Apple Account password — require Face ID or Touch ID, with no passcode fallback. Some, like changing your Apple Account password, also need a one-hour delay. A thief who watched you type your passcode can’t lock you out of your account.

2. Make sure Find My is fully on

Settings › [your name] › Find My › Find My iPhone: turn on Find My iPhone, Find My network (locates it even when offline) and Send Last Location. This also enables Activation Lock, which stops anyone else setting the phone up — see Activation Lock explained.

3. Use a stronger passcode

In Settings › Face ID & Passcode › Change Passcode › Passcode Options, choose a 6-digit or alphanumeric code. Avoid birthdays and patterns, and shield the screen when you type it in public — shoulder-surfing is how many account takeovers start.

4. Hide Control Center from the lock screen

In Settings › Face ID & Passcode › Allow Access When Locked, turn off Control Center (and Accessories if you like). That stops a thief from switching on airplane mode without unlocking the phone, which keeps Find My reporting.

Android: the three essentials

5. Turn on Theft Detection Lock and Offline Device Lock

On Android 10 and later with Google Play services, open Settings › Google › All services › Theft protection (on some phones, search Settings for “Theft protection”). Turn on:

• Theft Detection Lock — uses on-device motion sensing to lock the screen if someone snatches the phone and runs or rides off.
• Offline Device Lock — locks the screen if the phone is kept offline for an extended time.
• Remote Lock — lets you lock the phone at android.com/lock using just your phone number.

On supported phones running Android 15 or later, you may also see Identity Check, which requires biometrics for sensitive settings when you’re away from trusted places — similar to Apple’s Stolen Device Protection. Turn it on if available.

6. Confirm Find My Device is on

Settings › Google › All services › Find My Device — make sure Use Find My Device is on, and allow finding in the Find Hub / Find My Device network where offered. Test it at google.com/android/find. Your Google account also enables Factory Reset Protection, so a reset phone still asks for your account.

7. Samsung: turn on Samsung Find too

On Galaxy phones, open Settings › Security and privacy › Lost device protection and turn on Allow this phone to be found, Remote unlock and Send last location, plus Offline finding. You can then lock, locate or back up the phone at smartfind.samsung.com. Recent One UI versions also include Samsung’s own theft protection options in the same menu.

Every phone: three more settings

8. Set a SIM PIN

Without a SIM PIN, a thief can put your SIM in another phone and receive your bank codes. With one, the SIM won’t work after a restart until the PIN is entered.

• iPhone: Settings › Cellular › SIM PIN (Mobile Data on some regions).
• Android: search Settings for “SIM lock” — often under Security › More security settings › SIM card lock.

9. Secure the accounts behind the phone

Turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple Account or Google account, email and banking. Set up a recovery contact or recovery email, and avoid SMS-only 2FA where an authenticator app or passkey is available. Turn on automatic backup (iCloud Backup, Google One backup or Samsung Cloud) so losing the phone doesn’t mean losing your photos.

10. Record your IMEI and serial number

If the phone is stolen, the police and your carrier need its IMEI to block it — and you can’t dial *#06# on a phone you no longer have. Do it now:

1. Dial *#06#. Dual-SIM phones show two IMEIs — write down both.
2. Note the serial number from Settings › General › About (iPhone) or Settings › About phone (Android).
3. Store them somewhere off the phone: a password manager, an email to yourself, or a photo of the box label.

Check you copied the IMEI correctly — the last digit is a check digit, and this tool verifies it in your browser:

If the worst happens

With these settings on, your plan becomes simple: lock the phone remotely, suspend your SIM, change passwords and ask your carrier to block the IMEI. Our step-by-step guide on reporting a stolen phone and blocking the IMEI covers everything. A few days later you can confirm the block with a GSMA blacklist status check.

Buying a replacement second-hand? Make sure it isn’t someone else’s stolen phone: check Find My status with the Model + Find My check or the All-in-one Basic Info report, and use a Samsung info check for Galaxy phones. Our stolen phone check guide and free IMEI check page walk you through it.

Your 10-point checklist

1. iPhone: Stolen Device Protection on.
2. iPhone: Find My, Find My network and Send Last Location on.
3. Strong 6-digit or alphanumeric passcode.
4. iPhone: Control Center off on the lock screen.
5. Android: Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock and Remote Lock on.
6. Android: Find My Device on.
7. Samsung: Samsung Find (Lost device protection) on.
8. SIM PIN set.
9. 2FA, recovery options and backups set up.
10. IMEI and serial number recorded off the phone.