How to Retrieve Pictures From a Lost or Broken Cell Phone

Ever had your cell phone stolen before? If so, you’re not alone. According to the Federal Communications Commission, at least 10 percent of American smartphone owners have had their phones stolen.

Not only that but almost 70 percent of people who did have their cell phones stolen are never able to retrieve pictures again. Don’t want to lose your old cell phone images?

To recover lost cell phone pics, check out our best tips below.

Extracting Pictures From Lost or Stolen Phones

Curious about extracting pictures from lost or stolen Androids? If you’re wondering how to recover lost photos Android style, then we’re here to help.

For starters, one of the best qualities of modern smartphones is that they’ll typically upload old cell phone pic albums to the cloud. Are you sick and tired of googling “how to retrieve photos from cloud Android?”

Here’s how it works. First of all, check your cloud to see if your old photos are there. That’s because they will have automatically been uploaded to the cloud if this was the default setting on your phone.

For Android users, Google Drive is the place where your formerly uploaded pics should be. To start, press the blue “go to Google Drive” button on your nearest browser. Be sure to log in if you haven’t done so already. When you’re there, select the “Google photos” option on the left-hand side of the screen.

If you’re lucky, then your photos should be displayed right away. What should you do if your iPhone was lost or stolen recently? We’re glad that you asked.

Similar to Android phones, iOS devices act much the same way. First things first, check your iCloud to see if your older photos have been uploaded to it yet. For those of you who use Dropbox, then you might want to check this cloud-based service too.

If you’re smart, you may have connected the Dropbox app to your phone, which means that your phone’s photos should automatically pop-up to that platform. Of course, these cloud-based services can only upload photos when they’re connected to the internet.

Forgot to back up your phone? If that’s the case, then prepare to say goodbye to some of your latest photos. Don’t worry– you can always make new memories.

What to Do After Your Phone Has Been Stolen

Now that we’ve talked about how to retrieve your lost or stolen photos, it’s time to figure out what to do after your phone has been stolen. Have you downloaded the Find My Phone app onto your device?

For those of you who have, this is one of the most useful apps for tracking down your lost or stolen cell phone. Naturally, you have to have the location tracking feature switched on the phone to see it on the map. However, you probably won’t need this information to remotely erase the contents on your phone.

If you have an Android device, and here’s what you should do. To activate the Find My Phone app, select the Android device manager in the Google settings area. This will look like a gear-shaped icon that has the letter G on it.

To find your missing or lost phone, find a nearby computer to look at the Android Device Manager in the address bar of your browser. For iPhones, start by logging into the iTunes account that your phone was connected to. Now, go online to find your missing or lost iPhone with the Find my iPhone app.

How about Windows phones? Have no fear – we’ve got you covered too. Select the Find My Phone app on the main settings page.

Now, use a laptop or computer to log into the account sign-in screen via Microsoft.

Protecting Your Device From Cell Phone Theft

Interested in protecting your device from cell phone theft? You’ve come to the right place. This might sound way too simple to work, but attaching a note to your phone is actually a smart idea.

In fact, attaching a note with your work number or email address on it could even increase your odds of getting your phone back. That is –  if the right person finds it. All that you have to do is print out a tiny piece of paper and use tape to attach it to the back of your smartphone.

Warning: don’t attach your informative note to an area of your phone that is going to be rubbed a lot with your fingers. It will only end up with your precious contact information being smudged away. And nobody wants that, right?

This was a no-brainer. Make sure that you practice backing up your videos and photos as often as possible. Usually, this is offered for free by different operating systems, phone makers, and phone carriers.

In case you forgot to set this up when you first got your phone, you can always activate your backup program later on. Choose a source that’s “carrier-neutral” like Android’s Google Plus, Microsoft’s OneDrive, or Apple’s iCloud.

Dying to know the best part? Even if you switch cell phone carriers, all your older memories will be instantly saved to your new phone.

Looking for a reliable data recovery service? Make sure that you choose one with the most positive customer reviews.

Learn How to Retrieve Pictures Fast

Want to learn how to retrieve pictures fast? From extracting pictures from lost or stolen phones to protecting your device from cell phone theft, we’ve got it all.

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