What to do, in order
- Search while the area is still empty, Early morning is dramatically better than mid-afternoon. Crowds attenuate signal badly and a sweep at peak time will miss things a sweep at 8am would find.
- Go to the lost property tent, twice, Once when you notice, once the following morning. Items handed in overnight are logged in the morning.
- Scan your camping area first, Most losses at a festival are within twenty metres of where you slept, not in the crowd.
Where it usually turns up
- Inside the tent, in the bedding: Where phones go overnight.
- The grass immediately around the tent: Dropped getting in or out.
- Near the stage where you stood: Though recovery here is genuinely unlikely.
Worth knowing
- Bodies are mostly water and water blocks 2.4 GHz. A crowd is one of the worst radio environments there is, which is why timing your search matters so much.
- Battery is the other clock. An earbud lost on Friday is silent by Saturday morning.
Lost somewhere else?
The first hour looks different depending on where it happened.
- How to find something you left at the office
- How to find something a child left at school
- How to find something you lost in an airport
- How to find something you left at a swimming pool
- How to find something you left on a train
- Save the devices you care about, My Devices tab
- How to identify a smart speaker on Bluetooth, Mains powered
- All places, the complete list
Common questions
How long do I have to get something back from a festival or event?
Early morning is dramatically better than mid-afternoon. Crowds attenuate signal badly and a sweep at peak time will miss things a sweep at 8am would find.
Where does it usually turn up?
Inside the tent, in the bedding is the most common. Where phones go overnight.
In the app: A pin recorded at the moment you were last there is what separates these cases. Read about Last-Seen Map.