If your phone is stolen

Most of this guide is about the phone itself, and none of it is a promise. Private Lock is a second lock on your apps, not a way to find or recover a phone.

In the first ten minutes

1. Lock or locate the phone from another device at android.com/lock (Google's Find Hub). You can lock it, sign out, or erase it.
2. Call your bank on a number from their official site or the back of your card, and ask them to freeze or monitor cards and accounts.
3. Change the passwords for your Google account, email and any app that held banking or crypto details, from a device you trust.
4. Tell your mobile provider so they can block the SIM and the device.
5. Report it to the police if you want a record for insurance.

What Private Lock may have done

• If your protected apps were locked, they ask for your Private Lock PIN, which a thief who only saw your screen-lock code wouldn't have.
• If Out & about was on, the apps relocked as you left them and the fingerprint was off.
• If the intruder selfie was on, a photo of wrong attempts is stored encrypted on that phone.

What it can't do

It can't locate the phone, wipe it, or protect a phone after a factory reset. Safe mode and adb access can get around any app lock.

Before it happens

Follow the two-minute set-up: Android theft protection on, a different PIN, and the Out & about tile ready.