How to lock a Samsung phone

You returned home after a day of work and, unfortunately, you realized that you have lost your Samsung smartphone . Your first thought went to data: if someone misappropriated the device and were able to access it, they could have free access to the contents of the memory. Furthermore, you would like to prevent the phone from being formatted and reused with another SIM.

Do not despair again: there is a very good chance that you will be able to secure the data on your smartphone and prevent unauthorized access to the device by acting remotely, via the Internet. How? Read on and you will find out. Below you will find explained, in detail, how to block a Samsung phone and make it unusable until the correct account credentials are entered.

For completeness of information, I will also explain how to request the IMEI block, so that the device can no longer be used for cellular network services, even after formatting. So, without waiting any longer, make yourself comfortable and carefully read everything I have to explain to you on the subject, in order to succeed in your intent. That said, there is nothing left for me to do but wish you good reading and good luck!

Index

• How to lock a Samsung phone if it is stolen
  • How to lock a lost Samsung phone: Find my device
  • How to block a lost Samsung: Find Google device
• How to lock a Samsung phone with IMEI

How to lock a Samsung phone if it is stolen

If you suspect that your Samsung smartphone has been stolen, you can block it (or reset it) remotely, using the appropriate online services made available by both Samsung itself and Google. Find everything explained below.

How to lock a lost Samsung phone: Find my device

The first way I recommend you to take, if you want to block a Samsung phone (or tablet) in case of theft/loss, is to use Find My Device: the security system based on Samsung Cloud that allows you to carry out a series of remote operations on the device, including remote localization, blocking and restoration of the device.

For everything to go well, it is essential that the phone is switched on, connected to the Internet and that the Find my device option has been previously enabled; the latter feature is usually activated automatically when you set up a Samsung account. If you are reading this guide for preventive purposes, you can still make sure of this by going to the Settings> Biometric data and security menu and checking that the lever corresponding to the Find personal device item is active.

If all the requirements are met, you can lock the device screen by going to the Find My Device page using the browser of your choice and logging in with the credentials of the Samsung account paired with the phone. In a few moments, you should be shown a map containing the device’s last location, along with some buttons dedicated to remote operations.

Now, if you intend to lock the screen with an additional security PIN, as well as prevent the device from being turned off and display a message on the lock screen, press the Lock button located in the remote management console you see on the screen, then the Next button and use the following screen to specify a PIN to lock the device, an emergency contact to be called back and a message to show on the lost / stolen phone.

Finally, press the Lock button and that’s it: within a few seconds, the screen of the phone in question will be locked and can only be unlocked after entering the PIN specified above; moreover, the device cannot be turned off.

Finally, I would like to point out that Find personal device also allows you to perform a complete reset of the smartphone, by deleting all the data on it: following this operation, all the data in the memory will be deleted, the device will be blocked via the Samsung Knox system and can no longer be used in any way, except by entering the credentials of the Samsung profile previously configured.

To do this, locate the Clear Data button on the device’s remote management console, press it and, if necessary, type your account password again, in order to verify your identity and initiate a full memory reset.

How to block a lost Samsung: Find Google device

If you have not set up a Samsung Cloud profile on your device but only a Google account, you can try to deal with this using Google’s Find Device service, which works quite similar to Samsung’s Find My Device and is on by default. , on all Android devices equipped with Play Services (including Samsung).

If you are reading this guide for preventive purposes and want to verify that the “Big G” anti-theft system is actually enabled, go to the Settings> Google> Find my Android device menu and make sure that the lever at the top of the screen is set to ON, otherwise you do it. Also in this case, for everything to be successful, it is essential that the device is turned on and connected to the Internet.

To use Find My Device, connect to its web page and, if necessary, log in using your Google account credentials configured on your Samsung phone. After a few seconds, you should see on the screen a map containing the last known position of the device, together with a panel containing the emergency operations that can be carried out. If the Google account is associated with multiple smartphones or tablets, make sure you have selected the right one, using the thumbnails or the drop-down menu, both visible at the top.

Now, if it is your intention to lock the device and log out of your Google account , press the Lock device option and, if you wish, enter a message and / or a phone number to be displayed on the lock screen. Finally, press the Lock the device button : following the operation, the phone screen can no longer be unlocked (even after switching off), except by entering the password of the Google profile previously configured.

Also in this case, as a more “drastic” solution, you can choose to delete the entire contents of the device memory, using the Reset device button instead: following this path, all data will be permanently deleted from the device, which can no longer be unlocked in any way, except by entering the data of the Google account configured before the reset.

To succeed in the enterprise, after choosing the dedicated option from the phone management panel, press the Reset device button again , enter the password of your Google account in the appropriate field and, after pressing the Next button , confirm the will proceed by selecting the Reset button .

I would like to point out that, as well as from the Web, you can also act from the Find my device application, which can be downloaded for free from the Play Store : the operation is almost identical.

How to lock a Samsung phone with IMEI

To request the blocking of the IMEI code and prevent the smartphone (or tablet) from being used with Italian telephone operators, you must necessarily contact the Public Safety Authorities and report the theft of the device. Before doing so, however, it is necessary to go back to the code in question: usually, it is printed on the label on the package sales of the device, under the heading IMEI or S / N.

If you do not find it, you can retrieve it from the Samsung Find My Device portal : log in to the service as I explained above , press the button (⋮) located at the top right and then on the IMEI Information item , located in the menu that appears.

You can also get the same result through the Find device Google service: access the portal as I indicated earlier and press the button (i) located next to the name of the device to be recovered, to immediately view the IMEI .

After this step, report the theft of the device to the Public Security Authorities , presenting yourself in person at the nearest office and explaining the situation to the public official. At the end of the report, you just have to contact the SIM manager present in the phone, in order to request the blocking of the same, as well as the IMEI code of the device.

In this case, the simplest way to act is to physically go to one of the manager’s sales points , if available, bringing with you a copy of the complaint made and your valid identity document. If it is not possible for you to do so, you can also get in touch with an insider by telephone or Internet, as I explained to you in my tutorials on how to contact TIM, how to contact Vodafone, how to contact WINDTRE, how to contact Iliad , how to contact Fastweb and how to contact Poste Mobile.

After a few days from the complaint, the IMEI of the smartphone will be included in a sort of “black list” of stolen devices, shared by all Italian mobile phone operators: when this happens, even if the device should be forcibly unlocked (however very rare eventuality), it cannot be used to access cellular network services, since the latter will be unavailable regardless of the operator used, if Italian.