Google’s Find My Device tracking service allows users to remotely trace, locate, and wipe devices that are part of the company’s crowdsourced network of Android devices. Users can locate their missing Android phones, tablets, earphones, Wear OS-powered smartwatches, and other devices. While this feature is helpful, it also regularly sends location information to Google’s servers, and privacy-conscious users may want to turn it off. If you want to know where to find the settings for Find My Device on all Android devices (including Samsung) and how to turn it On or Off, read this guide:
How to enable or disable Find My Device on Android
Do you have a Google Pixel smartphone or a device from another manufacturer that hasn’t dramatically changed the standard Android user interface? Motorola is a good example, for instance. If you do, open Settings and scroll down until you find Security & privacy. Then, tap it.
In the Settings app, go to Security & privacy
You see an evaluation of your smartphone’s security. Tap Device finders.
Tap Device finders
The next screen shows an entry named Find My Device, and the status of this feature On or Off. To change it, tap Find My Device.
Tap Find My Device
You see the Find My Device page on your Android device. Here, you can enable or disable this feature or configure how it works.
Tap the Use Find My Device switch to change its status from On to Off or vice versa. Google verifies whether you are making the change by asking for your fingerprint, using face recognition (if your device has it set up), or requesting your Google account PIN.
Tap Use Find My Device
Authenticate yourself, and the Find My Device service status is changed.
TIP: Do you want to quickly send files, pictures, and videos to others? Here’s how to use Nearby Share on Android devices.
How to turn On or turn Off Find My Device on Samsung Galaxy
If you own a Samsung Galaxy or a device from another manufacturer, but the instructions from the previous section didn’t work, follow the steps in this section. Again, start by opening the Settings app on your Android device. Scroll down and tap Google.
On your Samsung Galaxy, open Settings and go to Google
You should see the Google services window. Select All services, scroll down to Personal & device safety, and tap Find My Device.
Choose All services, followed by Find My Device
You see the Find My Device screen, with options for setting up how this feature works.
Tap the Use Find My Device switch to change its status and turn it On or Off.
Tap the switch for Use Find My Device
Authenticate using your fingerprint, face recognition, or PIN, and the Find My Device feature is turned off or turned on, depending on what you have chosen.
TIP: Did you know that Samsung Galaxy devices can also be tracked and found using SmartThings Find?
Did you turn On Find My Device, or have you turned it Off?
For Find My Device to be effective, it needs to do a good job of tracking Android devices, regardless of who makes them: Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi, OPPO, OnePlus, etc. This also means that Google has a detailed log of where Android devices travel. This is a big privacy risk for some people who don’t want Google to track them. Others, like myself, prefer having Find My Device turned On and working when their devices get stolen or lost, and they need help getting them back or locking them remotely to prevent someone else from accessing their data. Since you have read this guide until its end, I’m curious about the camp you’re in: Are you a user who wants to turn off Find My Device? Or do you want to ensure that Find My Device is On? Leave your answer in the comments below.
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