If you lost your phone tonight, could you actually find it — what should you turn on now, before it happens?

Yes — but only if Find My on iPhone or Find Hub on Android was switched on before the loss, because neither can be turned on remotely afterwards. The exact settings to enable on both phones, the two-minute test find to run today, and the lock-screen and IMEI steps that make a recovery possible.

Your phone slips out of your pocket at dinner, you get home, pat your pockets twice, and your stomach drops. Short answer: yes, you probably could find it — but only if Find My on iPhone or Find Hub on Android was already switched on before the phone went missing. You cannot turn either one on remotely afterwards.

Why it matters: these free, built-in tools can show your phone on a map, make it play a sound, lock it with a message for the finder, or erase it if there is no other choice. On newer phones, finding can keep working for a while even after the battery dies or the phone goes offline, because nearby devices in the network help locate it in an encrypted, anonymous way. A wonderful safety net — if the switch was on.1.

On iPhone: open Settings, tap your name, then Find My, and turn on Find My iPhone, Find My network, and Send Last Location.2. Still on iPhone: open Settings, then Face ID & Passcode, and turn on Stolen Device Protection for extra security if the phone is ever taken.3. On Android: open Settings, then Security or Google, and turn on Find Hub (still called Find My Device on some phones) — and switch on offline finding too, if your phone offers it.4.

Test it once today from a computer: go to icloud.com/find for iPhone or android.com/find for Android and watch your own phone appear on the map.5. Add a way to reach you: put an emergency contact or another number on your lock screen or in your Medical ID, so a kind finder can actually get hold of you.6. Write down your phone’s IMEI and keep your Apple or Google account password in a password manager, so you can sign in from someone else’s device.

A small Bluetooth tracker in a bag or on your keys helps you find those items, too.Pro tip: do the two-minute test find today, while your phone is right next to you — most people only learn a setting was off after the phone is gone. And do not guard the account behind it all with an easy, reused password.Ad’s take: do this tonight, not someday. It takes less time than making coffee, and the version of you patting empty pockets tomorrow will be mighty glad you did.