Lock your phone properly - so a lost phone isn’t an open door
Your phone holds your email, your messages, often your banking - more of your life than your house keys do. If it’s lost or stolen, a few settings decide whether the finder gets a paperweight or your whole identity. Ten minutes.
A proper lock, not a four-digit guess
Use at least a six-digit PIN - better, a short passcode - and add fingerprint or face unlock to make that painless day to day. Avoid 1234, birthdays, and anything someone who knows you could guess.
That lock also encrypts the phone
On any current iPhone or Android, setting a lock screen switches on full-device encryption automatically - so the data can’t simply be read off the phone. There’s nothing extra to turn on; step 1 did it.
Turn on Find My
iPhone: Settings → your name → Find My → Find My iPhone, on. Android: turn on Find My Device. Either lets you locate, lock, or wipe the phone remotely if it goes missing.
Hide message previews on the lock screen
A texted login code you can read without unlocking defeats the point of the lock. Set notification previews to show only when unlocked, so codes and private messages aren’t sitting on a screen anyone can glance at.
Want to go further?
That’s the essentials. If you want the stronger stuff - Stolen Device Protection, Advanced Data Protection, lockdown, trimming app permissions - the fuller guides walk you through it: Harden your iPhone · Harden your Android.
Last checked: 19 October 2026. Menu paths move between versions - tell us if anything’s drifted.