In a previous post on Computer World blog, a series of points related to what you should do before and after your laptop is stolen were highlighted, and activating the feature Find My Device is one of the most important steps that help you locate your laptop if it is stolen or lost, because losing a laptop is not just a matter of losing money, but also losing valuable data. While tracking a laptop in the past required installing an external program like Prey, now the Find My Device feature is available in Windows 11 as well as Windows 10, and all you need to use it is an account on Microsoft. So it is very important to make sure to activate it, especially if you move your laptop frequently here and there. Let me tell you how to do that…
When you activate the Find My Device feature, your approximate geographic location will be periodically sent to Microsoft. Then, if you lose or your laptop is stolen, you can log into your Microsoft account from your phone or another device to find out the last known location that may help you pinpoint the device’s location.
But you should be aware that the feature has some limitations and is not similar to the tracking features to find a lost phone that you find in Android and iPhone, but just a “basic” way to report the device’s location only when it is turned on (or in sleep mode) and connected to the internet via Wi-Fi. Therefore, it is not very effective for relying on finding your stolen device, as it is possible for the thief to format the laptop and restore it to factory settings, permanently preventing you from tracking the device.
We hope that the feature will be developed in the future to prevent the possibility of resetting to factory settings while the feature is active. However, it is still necessary to activate it in case it may be beneficial someday!
Usually, the Find My Device feature is disabled by default, to activate it, open the Settings app through the Start menu or by pressing Win+I together, then go to the “Privacy & security” section and then click on Find my device where you can check if the feature is activated by having the word “On” in front of it. But if you logged in to Windows 11 with a local account, you will not be able to activate it until you create an account on Microsoft and link it to the device.
Now, when you want to track your lost device, open a web browser on your phone or another laptop and go to account.microsoft.com/devices and then enter your account information, type in your email and click Next, then enter your password to log in. Then you will see a list of devices registered to this account under the Devices section, click on the device you want to track and then click on the Find my device option.
You will then be able to track the laptop on the map, press the Find button to update the current geographic location if the device is turned on and connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet cable or cellular data connection, it will update its location regularly. Also, note that you can remotely lock the device by clicking the Lock button, which will display the lock screen preventing the thief from accessing the files. Anyway, once you complete the above steps, you will have a good idea about the laptop’s location. However, as mentioned at the beginning, this feature only provides an approximate location.
