Search for a Xiaomi phone via Mi account, Google and Find My Device

There is a Mi account, a phone search with which you can find a Xiaomi device. It works similarly to Google and Apple services and allows you to determine the location of a lost or stolen device.

Smartphones and other gadgets tend to get lost at the most inopportune moments. They are also the ones most often targeted by attackers. The i.mi.com website is in Russian and can help in a seemingly hopeless situation.

The instructions in this article are suitable for any Xiaomi device that is connected to a Mi account: smartphone, tablet, fitness bracelet, laptop and others. The text is based on Xiaomi Redmi 8.

Remote search capabilities in Mi account

The option to remotely search for a Xiaomi phone by account allows you to find a lost or stolen smartphone, block it or erase all information.

To understand how device search works, consider the capabilities of the function:

1. Xiaomi search - determines the coordinates of the current or last location.
2. Deleting data on external and internal storage will protect your personal data from prying eyes.
3. Playing a sound notification is a great option for finding your Xiaomi phone if you lost it somewhere nearby.
4. Remote blocking - if you can’t find it, you can prevent someone else from using it.

Searching through your Mi account allows you to determine the location of your lost phone with an accuracy of up to 27 meters. Activating the sound signal simplifies the process.

This is a useful feature of the Xiaomi Cloud, but it only works when the GPS transmitter on the device is turned on.

How to find a phone using Google

Search through a profile in the Google service is available to the user of a modern smartphone running Android OS. In this case, the device can be of the Xiaomi brand, and the owner can have a profile in Mi Cloud or in another service synchronized with the smartphone. The reason to choose a Google account for searching is the greater accuracy of device detection on the map.

You can become a Google profile owner by following these steps:

1. Go to your smartphone settings.
2. Go to the accounts item (here you can also find Mi Account).
3. Select "Other accounts".
4. Register by entering your details.

At the final stage, the profile is automatically linked to the smartphone. And, if the lost gadget had at least one such account (and there may be more than 10), the google.com/android/devicemanager service will help you find the device. On this site, from any PC or laptop, you should log into the same profile that is selected as the main one on your smartphone and track it on the map.

Activating Xiaomi device detection

In order for the device to be found, you need to activate the function on your smartphone. But before that, make sure that it is linked to your Mi account, otherwise nothing will work.

How to enable Xiaomi device search function:

1. Launch settings and go to the “Mi account” section.
2. Tap on the item “Linked devices”.
3. Select the desired smartphone from the list.

4. Tap on the words “Search for device”.
5. Click the "Enable Device Search" button.
6. Enter your Mi account password and click on OK.

After this, the function will be activated. Now, if you lose your phone, you can find it through the Mi Cloud website or using the application. Of course, provided that it is turned on.

How to find a lost smartphone if it is turned off

As already noted, searching for a smartphone through Mi or Google accounts is only relevant if the device is online. If its charge runs out or the attackers turn off the gadget, you will have to look for other options.

Contacting a mobile operator salon

Contact the nearest store of your mobile operator as soon as possible. In order for the consultant to provide data on the location of the smartphone, provide him with:

• Phone IMEI code;

• the agreement under which the SIM card was purchased;
• passport details.

Afterwards, employees will send a request to the operator, who will search for the gadget using satellites.

Important! To disable the ability to search for a stolen smartphone, cunning attackers throw away the SIM card. However, if they haven't done this, you will most likely find your Xiaomi.

Contacting the police

This option is similar to the previous one, but some delays are possible here, since the police regularly receive dozens of reports of missing or stolen smartphones. Provide the employee with the following information:

• Phone IMEI;
• passport details;
• documents confirming the purchase of the device.

Write a statement and wait for the information to appear.

Search for Xiaomi on i.mi.com

Now we’ll tell you how to search for a lost phone through the Xiaomi website. First you need to go to the official website i.mi.com.

Search through the site i.mi.com:

1. On the i.mi.com website that opens in the browser, select “Login through Mi account”.

2. Enter your Mi account username and password, then click “Login”.

3. In the list, click on the “Find device” tile.

4. In the block on the right, select your Xiaomi device. In our example, this is Redmi 8.

5. After a few seconds, the latest geoposition of the smartphone will be displayed on the map.

After determining the geoposition, you need to inspect the area within a radius of 27 meters from the point on the map - this is the error of the Xiaomi system. For convenience, turn on the sound signal.

Turn on the sound signal:

1. To do this, select the phone name in the right block.

2. A menu will appear in which you will need to click on the “Sound” button.

3. Click the “Play Sound” button.

The ringtone on your smartphone will play for a few minutes. Even if all sounds are turned off in the settings or vibration mode is activated. This helps you find your phone among things or on a noisy street.

Xiaomi lock:

1. Click on the “Lost Mode” button.

2. Click on the “Activate Lost Mode” button.
   Read also:  Mi Band 3 does not connect to the smartphone: reasons and solutions

The device will be blocked the first time it connects to the network. To unlock it you need to enter your Mi Account password. MIUI will update your device's location information regularly.

If your Xiaomi phone is turned off, when locked, an SMS message will be automatically sent, which notifies Xiaomi's search engine where it is. After sending an SMS, coordinates from the phone’s transmitter are sent to your Mi account.

Activating the lost mode will remove Mi Pay cards (if any) from the phone. This will completely protect your data and prevent an attacker from using linked cards for contactless payments.

Data formatting

1. Select the desired model in the block on the right and click “Erase data”.

2. Confirm the action using the “Erase” button.

All your contacts, photos, emails and other data stored on your device and memory card will be deleted. Mi Cloud synchronization will be disabled, but the phone can be controlled remotely.

Attention! The option to format a smartphone should be used as a last resort. If the phone is found, the data will not be restored. Before activating this feature, make sure that you cannot find it.

Alternative Search Methods

Everything described above is suitable as a fairly simple way to search for a smartphone for ordinary users, but the methods described below are most often used by law enforcement agencies or, for example, logistics departments. It is also useful to know about them in cases of loss of a smartphone. Moreover, such methods allow you to find the device even if it is turned off.

Looking for a phone by imei

IMEI is a unique identifier for each smartphone, which can be found on the back cover upon purchase. This is the serial number that is given during production and which is almost impossible to change. In some cases, for example, with expensive iPhones made to order, this may be relevant. Particularly gifted individuals manage to change the serial number on their own, but it is worth remembering that the procedure for changing the IMEI on a phone is a criminal offense.

The official Xiaomi website has a database that contains all the unique IMEI codes of devices released by the company. There you can find a smartphone and make sure that it is in use.

How will this help you if you lose your device? Alas, no way. You will simply find it in the production database. But this case is perfectly applicable when buying a gadget, for example, on the gray market. By punching the IMEI, you can accurately understand that the phone was manufactured by Xiaomi, and also find out what month and what year, thereby making sure that the device is original or counterfeit. In some cases, you can check the installed components - after all, leapfrog with camera lenses or screen manufacturers has long been a hallmark of the most popular Xiaomi smartphones.

We contact law enforcement agencies, the mobile operator

The last hope is the mobile operator or law enforcement agencies. The thing is that these two authorities are able to find even a turned off smartphone.

Contacting law enforcement agencies is an understandable step. We come, write a statement, and wait. The more expensive the smartphone, the higher the likelihood that the matter will move forward. Here it is already important to inform the police - after all, they find the phone based on information received, for example, from controlled pawnshops, the analysis of which is not available to the average person, confiscate it from detained persons, etc.

From personal experience, one of the devices I lost was found seven years later, in working condition, but irretrievably outdated. It’s funny and makes me want to cry.

Law enforcement agencies may require permission to obtain information about your SIM card. And now this is much more interesting. The SIM card gives a signal in much the same way as the built-in GPS module. The mobile operator tracks the movements of the smartphone using a special system in much the same way as was described in the methods with Find My Devices, where the approximate location of the device is displayed on the map.

Operators are unlikely to cooperate just like that - after all, the loss of a device is not a valid reason for checking, but if the police manage to obtain a special document, it is likely that it will be possible to find a smartphone in this way.

Alas, this method also has a disadvantage, because the SIM card is located, which is the first one to fly into the trash can of an experienced thief.

Search using Google

Searching through a Mi account is not the only way to find your Xiaomi. The same option is provided by Google.

TOP 5 productive Xiaomi smartphones according to AnTuTu rating:

• 1 Black Shark 4 Pro
  867578 points
• 2
  POCO F3 Pro

  821847 points

• 3
  Mi 11 Ultra

  817225 points

  Read also:  How to “tame” manual camera settings in Xiaomi smartphones
• 4
  Mi Mix Fold

  815000 points

• 5
  Mi 11 Pro

  804210 points

The Google account that is linked to the Android OS on the smartphone also has a search option. If you couldn’t find your lost Xiaomi phone through the Mi cloud, you can try searching for it using Google. To do this, go to google.com/android/find.

Search process:

1. Enter your Google login and click “Next”.

2. Then enter your password and click Next again.

3. The system will show the last location of the smartphone.

Determining the location of the smartphone in this case is accurate within 10 meters.

Enabling ringing will help if it is not clear which bag the phone is in or there is snow or fallen leaves on the street around the place where it went missing.

Enable ringing:

1. On the page with the area map, select the “Call” section in the left column.

2. If the smartphone is found, click on the “Stop ringing” button.

This feature activates the phone's beep sound at maximum volume. The option is fully functional even if the sound on the smartphone is turned off or the vibration mode is set. The signal is very loud.

Smartphone lock:

1. On the map page, click on the “Block device” sign.

2. Enter your recovery message and click “Lock device.”

Now you won’t be able to use your smartphone without entering your Google account registration data (username and password). If the phone is stolen, the attacker will not be able to use it. After detecting the smartphone, you can unlock it with your login and password.

Deleting data:

1. On the map page, select “Clear device.”

2. Click on the “Clean device” button.

This will delete all data from the internal and external storage without the possibility of recovery. It is recommended to follow this procedure if your phone is stolen to protect your personal information.

For Xiaomi A series on Android One, it is better to use the Google service. You can install Mi Cloud and enable detection, but since the A-series is pure Android, the cloud often cannot see the smartphone.

Attention! If in MIUI you have to manually enable the search for a smartphone, then in Google the option is activated by default. If you haven't enabled the search function in MIUI, use your Google account.

Connecting phone control remotely

To connect remote access, go to the settings of redmi or redmi 5, go to the “Security” section, and then “Device Administrators”. Select the “Remote control” item.

After these steps, we enable the transfer of geodata (in Google settings) and location history.

To be able to return a lost or stolen device, you need to do some preliminary work. Without which, unfortunately, it will be very difficult to find a device. Just like a car alarm is set in advance, before a possible theft. It's a similar story with the phone.

Tracking via Find My Device app

There is an application for tracking the location of a Xiaomi smartphone and remotely controlling it. Previously it was called Android Device manager, now its name is Find My Device ().

1. Install the Find My Device app.
2. Launch it and select your Google account to sign in.
3. Enter your password and click “Login.”
4. Give the program the necessary permissions.
5. After a few seconds, the program will determine the location of the Xiaomi gadget.

There are also options for ringing, blocking the smartphone or formatting it. The features are identical to the official website.

The program uses your Google account and allows you to quickly find your phone or block it. There is no similar application for MIUI yet.

There is a similar Find My Phone application from a third-party developer. It can also find a stolen Xiaomi phone, but its functions are no better than the official Google app.

How to locate a phone by IMEI

It is impossible to find a device by IMEI (15-digit number associated with each smartphone) without special equipment. An ordinary user, knowing the IMEI, can determine from a special database whether the mobile phone has been stolen. If you find the ID of a smartphone purchased on the secondary market in one of these lists, it means that it previously belonged to the user and, most likely, changed hands after theft or loss.

The owner himself can only transfer information for placement in such databases or contact law enforcement agencies. But, as practice shows, the police rarely search for phones by IMEI number. Sometimes an attacker manages to change the ID using special utilities - however, after this the function of making a call disappears.