In short
What should I do first if my phone is stolen?
Call your mobile carrier to block the SIM and ask for a new SIM with the same number. Then lock the phone remotely: Find Hub for Android, Find My for iPhone (also at icloud.com/find). As soon as the new SIM works, register WhatsApp again on another phone; WhatsApp says that logs the stolen phone out. WhatsApp cannot deactivate your account for you.
1. Block the SIM and keep your number
WhatsApp and Telegram both start with the same step: contact your mobile carrier to block the old SIM and issue a new one with your number. Without a SIM with the same number, WhatsApp says the account cannot be recovered, and Telegram says whoever has the number has the account.
2. Lock the phone remotely
- Android: use the Find Hub app on another Android device, or Find Hub in a browser. Mark as lost locks the phone with your PIN, pattern or password; Erase wipes it, after which the phone needs your Google Account password to be used again. Google says the phone must be online, signed in to a Google Account, have Find Hub turned on and be visible on Google Play.
- iPhone or iPad: use Find My on another Apple device, a family member's device, or icloud.com/find. Signing in there needs no verification code. Lost Mode locks the device with your passcode and suspends Apple Pay cards. If Find My was off before the loss, the device won't appear and can't be locked or erased remotely.
3. Get WhatsApp back on the new SIM
- 1Put the new SIM with your old number in another phone.
- 2Open WhatsApp and register your number again with the code it sends.
- 3WhatsApp says this automatically logs your account out of the stolen phone.
- 4Turn on two-step verification and check your linked devices.
WhatsApp also says it cannot deactivate your account for you, cannot locate your phone, and that you cannot log out of your account from WhatsApp Web or desktop. If you saved a backup to your Google Account before the loss, WhatsApp says you may be able to restore your chat history.
4. Telegram: end the session on the old phone
If you are still logged in to Telegram on another device, Telegram says to turn on two-step verification first, so the number alone is no longer enough, then go to Settings → Devices and terminate the session on the stolen phone. With no other device, wait for the new SIM, log in, and terminate the old session from there.
5. Then the rest
- Change the password of the email account on the phone, then check its recovery phone and email
- Tell your bank if banking apps were on the phone
- Report the theft to the police; Apple notes they may ask for the serial number
- Beware of messages claiming your phone was found: Apple says it will never contact you to tell you that
Frequently asked questions
Can WhatsApp block my account if my phone is stolen?
No. WhatsApp's help page now says it cannot deactivate your account for you, because it can't confirm the number belongs to you. The way to cut off the stolen phone is to register the same number again on another phone with a new SIM.
I got a message that my lost iPhone was found. Is it real?
Apple says it will never contact you to tell you a lost iPhone or iPad was found, and that you should never share your passcode, passwords or verification codes. It's a scam to unlock the phone.
My phone had two-step codes for everything. How do I get into Google?
Google points to backup codes for two-step verification. Without them, start with our Google account recovery guide.
Can you help after a phone theft?
SIM, phone lock and WhatsApp re-registration are steps only you can take. If accounts were taken over from the stolen phone, like Instagram or Facebook, we help recover them through the platforms' official processes.
Official sources
The platforms' own help and policy pages. We are not affiliated with them.