It can happen in the blink of an eye. You put your Android phone down on a counter at the checkout stand or feel a slight bump as you get off the subway, only to later realize your phone is missing. Regardless of how you lose it, be it theft or a simple mistake, losing your phone is a stressful experience. Losing your phone cuts off your access to the rest of the world; it is likely the most personal device you own. Replacing it is a costly nuisance. In the event your phone goes missing, don't panic! There are tools built into every Android phone that make it possible to lock and track down a lost phone with ease. But first, you'll need to take some steps now to set yourself up for success if and when your phone does go missing -- even if you only left it in the house. You can take a few steps now to be ready if you lose your phone. Do yourself a favor and turn on passcode and fingerprint authentication. Do yourself another favor and don't use facial recognition on your Android device. On most Android devices, the technology used for facial recognition can be easily tricked with something as simple as a photo of your face. Google's Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL are the exceptions here, as they use a more reliable system similar to Apple's Face ID. Next, create your passcode and set up fingerprint authentication in the Settings app under the Security section. I realize scanning a fingerprint or entering a PIN code every time you want to use your phone can be inconvenient, but the idea of someone having access to your photos, banking apps, email, and the rest of your personal info is downright scary. An extra step to unlock your phone is worth the effort when you consider the potential impact of exposing your personal info to a stranger. Any time you sign in to an Android device with a Google account, Find My Device is automatically turned on. Google's free Find My Device service is what you'll use should your phone ever go missing to track, remotely lock, and remotely erase it. Check to make sure Find My Device is enabled on your Android phone by opening the Settings app and going to Security & Location > Find My Device. Alternatively, if your device doesn't have a Security & Location option, go to Google > Security > Find My Device. Find My Device should be turned on. If not, slide the switch to the On position. Finally, double-check that the ability to secure and remotely erase the device is turned on by going to android.com/find on your computer, selecting your phone, and clicking Set Up Secure & Erase. A push alert will be sent to your phone -- tap it to finish the setup process. Samsung has long offered a Find My Mobile service to help Galaxy phone owners track down their lost phones. The service is separate from Google's Find My Device offering, and is something you can -- and definitely should -- set up. Not only does it give you a backup service you can use to track down a lost phone, but it also gives you tools that Find My Device doesn't have. With Samsung's service, you can do things like forcing remote backups or see if someone has swapped out your SIM card. You'll need to use your Samsung account to set up Find My Mobile. However, more recently, Samsung announced a new service called SmartThings Find. The new feature works like Apple's Find My app by crowdsourcing the location of a lost device, even if it's offline, but telling nearby Galaxy devices to look for its Bluetooth signal and report its location if it's found. All of which, of course, is done anonymously. As for SmartThings Find, you'll need to have a Galaxy device running Android 8 or newer. The setup process should already be taken care of as long as you're running the latest version of the SmartThings app. I had to go into the Galaxy Store app and update it myself, but once I did that the main page of the SmartThings app had a map showing the last location of my Galaxy Buds ($80 at Amazon), along with other Samsung devices that are linked to my account below the map. If it's not set up automatically, you may have to tap on a SmartThings Find button and follow the prompts to register your device. Once it's turned on, you can view the location of your device(s) by opening the SmartThings app and select SmartThings Find. Read this how-to in its entirety on OUR FORUM.