How to Find Your Parent's Lost Android Phone (Not Family Link)

A missing phone feels different when it belongs to your mom or dad. It is not just a device. It might be their only way to call for help.

The good news is that Android already has a free tool built for exactly this. It just needs to be turned on before the phone goes missing, not after.

This guide walks you through setting that tool up together with your parent, so it is a safety net they know about and agree to, not something running in secret. We will also clear up a common mix up with Google Family Link, which is not actually built for tracking an adult.

By the end, you will know how to check that your parent’s phone is protected, what to do the moment it goes missing, and which Samsung feature to use if that is the phone in your family.

How do I find my parent’s lost Android phone?

The fastest way is Google’s Find Hub, the free tool built into every Android phone that was called Find My Device until Google renamed it in 2025. Google confirmed the Find Hub name change across Android settings and the Play Store starting in 2025, according to 9to5Google’s reporting on the rollout.

Find Hub lets you sign in to your parent’s Google Account from any browser or the Find Hub app and see the phone’s last known location on a map. From there you can make it ring, lock it with a message on the screen, or erase it if it is truly gone.

None of this works after the phone is lost if it was never turned on. That is the one step worth doing today, together, while the phone is right there on the kitchen table.

Is Find Hub already turned on?

According to Google’s Android Help page on finding a lost device, most phones need three things in place:

• The phone is signed into a Google Account.
• Location is turned on for the phone.
• Find Hub’s own “Allow device to be located” setting is switched on.

To check the last one on most Android phones, go to Settings > Security > Find Hub and confirm Allow device to be located is turned on. On a few older phones, the same setting lives under Settings > Google > All services > Find Hub.

Google also lets a phone be found for a period after it powers off, on supported models such as recent Pixel phones, as long as Bluetooth and location were switched on beforehand. This is worth knowing, since a lost phone often ends up with a dead battery.

What if it’s a Samsung Galaxy phone?

Many older adults carry a Samsung phone, and Samsung has its own version of this feature called SmartThings Find. You may also see it labeled Find My Mobile in some menus, since Samsung is partway through renaming it.

According to Samsung’s support page on using SmartThings Find, the phone needs a Samsung account added, a working network connection, and its remote controls enabled, which is normally the default once that account is set up. Samsung also offers an offline finding option under Settings > Security and privacy > Lost device protection, which can help locate a phone even without a network connection.

If your parent’s phone is a Samsung model, our guide to Samsung’s Easy Mode is a good companion piece, since it covers where a lot of these settings hide on a simplified home screen.

Can I use Family Link to track my parent’s phone?

No, not really. Family Link is built to supervise a child’s Google Account, not to keep track of an adult. Google’s own Family Link help pages describe it as a tool for children and teens, with supervision generally ending once a child turns 13, or the applicable age in their country, and full account control ending at 18.

There is no setting in Family Link meant for supervising a parent, a spouse, or any other adult. Trying to use it that way misunderstands what the tool is for, and it is not the respectful way to help a parent stay safe.

The better combination for an adult parent is the pair covered in this guide: Find Hub for the “my phone is missing” emergency, and Google Maps location sharing for everyday peace of mind that your parent controls and can turn off any time.

Setting this up together, the right way

Sit down with your parent and treat this like any other safety habit, similar to programming an emergency contact or writing down a spare house key location.

A simple way to introduce it: “If your phone is ever lost or stolen, this lets us find it, lock it, or wipe it so no one gets your information. It only helps if we turn it on now, while everything is fine.”

Walk through the Find Hub check above together, on their phone, in front of them. If your parent lives far away, our guide on helping a parent with their phone remotely has tips for doing this over a video call or screen sharing app instead of in person.

This is also a good moment to write down (on paper, somewhere safe, not just in a notes app on the phone itself) the Google Account email and the screen lock PIN or pattern, since both are needed to use Find Hub from another device later. For a broader walkthrough of getting a parent’s whole phone ready, see setting up a phone for an elderly parent.

Sharing location with a trusted contact in Google Maps

Find Hub is for emergencies. For everyday reassurance, such as knowing your parent made it home from an appointment, Google Maps location sharing is a lighter touch option that your parent can turn on or off whenever they like.

According to Google Maps Help, the steps on an Android phone are:

1. Open Google Maps and tap the profile picture in the top corner.
2. Tap Location sharing, then New share.
3. Choose how long to share for (a set number of hours, or Until you turn this off).
4. Pick the person to share with. They need a Gmail account already saved in Contacts.
5. Tap Share.

Location sharing keeps working even if the person’s Google Maps Timeline history is turned off, per Google’s support page, so it does not require your parent to keep a location history they may not want.

What to do if the phone is truly missing

If the phone cannot be found in the house or car, move through these steps in order.

1. Locate it. Open android.com/find (or the SmartThings Find website for a Samsung phone) and sign in with your parent’s account. Check the map for its last known spot.
2. Make it ring. Even on silent, Find Hub and SmartThings Find can trigger a loud sound, which helps if the phone is simply lost somewhere at home.
3. Lock it with a message. Both services let you lock the screen and show a message with a backup phone number, in case someone finds it and wants to return it.
4. Erase it as a last resort. If the phone was stolen, or it is clear it will not be recovered, remote erase removes personal data. This step cannot be undone, and it also turns off Find Hub or SmartThings Find on that device, so use it only once you are sure.

If the phone was stolen rather than simply lost, it is also worth reporting it to the phone’s carrier and, if there was any suspicious activity, watching for follow up scam calls or texts. Our guide on stopping spam and scam calls on Android covers what to do if strange calls start showing up afterward.

If your family also has an iPhone in the mix, the equivalent Apple tool and its emergency features work a little differently. Our guide to Emergency SOS and Fall Detection on iPhone covers that side of things.

Where to go from here

Setting up Find Hub, and having an honest conversation with your parent about why, takes about ten minutes and can save a lot of stress later. It respects your parent as the owner of their own phone while giving your whole family a real plan for the day something goes wrong.

For a fuller, large print walkthrough of getting an Android phone ready for an older adult, including safety settings like this one, see our book Your Android Phone. And if scam calls or texts are also a worry, our Scam-Stopper Kit (free when you join our email letter) is a quick way to get started on that too, over at /kit/.