Like Android and iOS devices, Microsoft also offers a “Find My Device” feature for its Windows laptops. If a user’s laptop is lost or stolen, this feature can be used to remotely locate and lock the device.
Microsoft’s “Find My Device” function is so much more than a simple device finder that it’s like describing a “vehicle” as only four wheels and a steering wheel. The online service is a capable PC manager in its own right, maybe even more so than Windows itself.
When Microsoft offered devices that could be lost, such as Windows phones, the functionality made a lot more sense. You could assume that most of that value vanished when Microsoft dropped Windows 10 Mobile. However, over time, the reverse happened.
Find My Device and your Microsoft account’s “devices” tab are practically the same thing. The account.microsoft.com/devices URL should be saved as your homepage for managing your PCs. If you haven’t done so previously, sign in with your Microsoft account.
A list of Windows devices associated with your account should appear. It might be one or many.
However, this feature requires a working internet connection and laptops are not always connected to a network, which makes tracking a lost device a bit tricky.
Requirements to use Microsoft’s Find My Device:
- The laptop must be linked to a Microsoft account with administrator access. Location services must be enabled.
- The device requires an active Internet connection.
- This feature does not work with a school / work account.
How do I enable the “Find My Device” feature on a Windows laptop?
- Step 1: Open the “Settings” application on your laptop.
- Step 2: Then go to “Update & Security”.
- Step 3: Tap the “Find My Device” option and turn on the switch.
How do I find a lost or stolen laptop?
- Step 1: Go to https://account.microsoft.com/devices and sign in with the same Microsoft account that is associated with your laptop.
- Step 2: Select the “Find my device” tab.
- Step 3: Now tap on the lost or stolen Windows laptop you want to find and select “Search”.
- Step 4: A map will be displayed showing the location of your device. How does a Windows laptop crash? Once you have found your device’s location on the map, tap on ‘Lock’ and then ‘Next’.