What to prepare before your phone is ever stolen: a checklist

Updated 3 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

You don't have to do this all at once. Most of it takes a few minutes, and even one or two items will help. It's written for iPhone, and most of the ideas work on any phone.

On your phone

• Turn on Find My. Apple says that without it, you can't mark your iPhone as lost or erase it from afar.
• Use a passcode and Face ID or Touch ID, and let the screen lock itself after a short time. Choose a longer passcode if you can.
• Turn on Stolen Device Protection. Apple says it must be on before the phone is lost or stolen. It needs two-factor authentication (a code or a second device when you sign in), Face ID or Touch ID, Find My and Significant Locations.
• Set a SIM PIN, so it's harder for someone to use your SIM in another phone.
• Back up your phone regularly, to the cloud or a computer. The FTC, the US consumer agency, says that keeps your information within reach if the phone goes.
• Keep your software up to date.

Your accounts

• Know your Apple Account password. You'll need it on someone else's device, so try it now.
• Add a recovery contact. Apple lets you add up to five people who can give you a code if you're locked out. Go to Settings, your name, Sign-In & Security, Recovery Contacts. You both need iMessage turned on and an Apple device on iOS 15, iPadOS 15 or macOS Monterey or later. You both need to be over 13, though this varies by country.
• Give your email a second way in. For a Google Account, that could be a backup phone number, or backup codes kept somewhere other than a picture on your phone.
• Keep passwords out of easy places. Metrobank warns against Notes and your photo gallery, and says to be careful about saving logins in mobile browsers.
• Check your pictures. Photos of your cards and IDs go wherever your phone goes.

Off your phone

These only help if they aren't on the phone that went missing. A note in your email, a paper in your wallet or a message to someone you trust all work.

• Your phone's details: the model, the serial number and the IMEI, a number that identifies the phone. Here's where to find them.
• Who to call: your network, your banks and your e-wallets. Pick your country for numbers we've checked.
• Your plan: a few lines on what to do first. Use ours as a starting point.
• The name of someone to call, and a number you know by heart. If your phone is gone, your contacts may be too.
• The phone's box and receipt. Keep them somewhere safe at home. In some countries they help prove the phone is yours, as they do in the Philippines.

Your IMEI and bank names are fine to keep this way, but please don't put passwords or full card numbers on that list.

Your everyday habits

• Keep your cards out of your phone case. Crimestoppers, a UK crime charity, points out that if the phone is taken, the cards go too.
• Check your insurance. See whether your plan covers theft. Apple says its Theft and Loss coverage isn't available in all countries and regions.
• Take care when you're out. Here's how to lower the risk.

What this can't do

None of this stops a theft, and it can't promise you'll get the phone back. What it does is make a bad hour much easier, because you'll know what to do and have what you need.

How FirstHour helps

Plan B is built for this list. Its 16 guided tips start with the most useful, such as your passcode, Find My, your Apple Account password, Stolen Device Protection and a SIM PIN. You tick your network, e-wallets and banks, and add your own numbers anywhere. Then you can send your plan to someone you trust, email it to yourself or print a wallet card. Protect points out pictures of cards, IDs and codes. It can miss some, so "nothing found" doesn't mean "safe". FirstHour can't turn these settings on for you, and it can't lock your iPhone or your bank accounts.

Questions

Sources

• How to find your lost iPhone or iPad, Apple Support
• About Stolen Device Protection for iPhone, Apple Support
• Set up a recovery contact for your Apple Account, Apple Support
• Find the serial number or IMEI on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, Apple Support
• Fix common issues with 2-Step Verification, Google Account Help
• How to protect your phone from hackers, US Federal Trade Commission
• Phones and tablets, Get Cyber Safe, Government of Canada
• Lost your phone? Protect your money and identity, Metrobank
• Phone snatching in the City of London, Crimestoppers
• Theft and robbery, Crimestoppers
• FAQs, NTC Region 7