How to Track a Phone Number: A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you ever received a cell phone call from an unknown caller? Would you like to know the location of the cell phone number calling you and the called ID?

Fortunately, phone number tracking has become more accessible in the past years. You will be surprised at how simple it is to gather information and how many ways of phone number tracking there are. If you want to find the best way to to track someone’s location by phone by number, check out our guides below.

How to Track a Cell Phone Number Without Them Knowing

mSpy software stands out from the mentioned built-in applications as it is fully equipped with all of the necessary monitoring features to secretly track cell phone.

✔️ Geo-fencing is one of the top features of mSpy: set an unlimited number of forbidden zones where the device should not be. Whenever the mobile device enters a forbidden area, you will be notified. Therefore, you will know if someone is taking the device outside the perimeter.

✔️ In case your cell phone was stolen, this anti-theft app can be a real lifesaver. You can also use it for social network sping.

✔️ With its help, you will be able to see the actual real-time GPS location of your cell phone on a detailed map and look through the route history over a specified period. It relays data in real-time

Here’s how to use it:

Step 1: Go to mSpy’s website, choose a suitable subscription plan, and enter your payment details.

sign up mSpy

Step 2: Follow the received email instructions on your email address and install the app on the target cell phone to start track cell phone location and number tracking.

mspy payment

Step 3: Log into your control panel on mSpy’s website and check all device activity.

login mspy

Pros & Cons: mSpy is quite beginner-friendly, as it offers an attractive interface design, explicit sets of instructions, and a wide variety of advanced features. The only downsides, though, are that this spy app still requires a subscription, and some features require rooting.

How to Track the Owner of the Phone Number

You can also utilize a wide variety of online resources and databases to track the owner of a device. Celltrackingapps experts say that you can find a lot of publicly available data by performing a simple Google search.

For example, using WhitePages helps you in doing a reverse home address search. With the database as Spokeo, you can find the phone number owner and see their publicly available records.

Spokeo

Spokeo phone lookup is a cell phone location tracking service that can find property records, business records, social media network reports, and more. With its help, you will receive an updated report whenever more information is available according to your search. This phone lookup service has a good 10 years of experience in the cell phone search industry and have created an intuitive user interface.

Professionals use this tool to screen employees or clients. It is also possible to identify repeat callers with this fantastic tool in seconds. Spokeo’s full functionalities comprise message phone tracking so that you can keep tabs on your children or significant other’s communications.

Pros & Cons: What makes the Spokeo phone tracking app so convenient is the fact that its multi-use. It offers a large database with extensive information about various phone number owners. You can use it to track a cell phone without them knowing even outside the USA. Unlike many other third-party search websites, Spokeo is actually legit and provides reliable information. The only downside, though, is that you have to pay a fee to conduct more detailed searches and obtain court records.

WhitePages

WhitePages phone lookup is a public service that provides relevant information on people. You can easily search for the home address, do background checks, screen tenants, and much more! WhitePages searches in public records to do reverse phone lookups from the starting data you provide.

Therefore, it is entirely legal to grab info with this tool to get a custom report.

Pros & Cons: This method is excellent because it’s free and publicly available. However, it is not always reliable, and it does not always yield results. Some information might be tainted and incorrect, which could lead you down a rabbit hole of false data.

How Do You Track Phone Number Location on iPhone for Free

Currently, it is possible to track a device’s location with a built-in app such as Find My iPhone for iOS with online access or by using iPhone spying applications.

Here is how to do it:

Step 1: Type in https://www.icloud.com/find in the search bar and sign in to your iCloud account or open the Find My iPhone app on another phone.

how to enable find my iphone 1

Step 2: Open the map within the app or select the Find iPhone feature on the iCloud website.

how to enable find my iphone 2

Step 3:  Choose your device and look for its location on the map.

how to enable find my iphone 3

Step 4:  Mark your device as lost. Your phone will be locked.

how to enable find my iphone 4

Built-in features

Find My iPhone phone number tracker is quite easy to use and helps you with implementing your needs:

  • You can make the device ring to search around.
  • This application is accessible from the desktop in sync with the iCloud account or Apple ID so that you can track your device.
  • You can set the mobile phone to Lost Mode to block the access and show contact information so that anyone finding it can phone call you back.
  • In the case of reaching a critical battery level, the device sends its last location to give a hint of its whereabouts.
  • You can contact Apple Support to reset the device remotely to prevent data leaks.

Pros & Cons: This built-in app is great because it is free of charge. Not only that, but it is also reliable since it was customized for the particular type of device. The downside, though, is that the feature set is quite limited: location tracking, blocking data, and remote ringing. It also requires physical access to the target device and it does NOT perform in the hidden mode.

How to Track a Cell Phone Number from My PC

Just like iOS devices, Android has a built-in counterpart app, Find My Device, that can be used to track devices. Bear in mind,  the phone number tracking location feature has to be enabled on the target device for this method to work. 

Here’s how to track your phone using this app:

Step 1: Type in android.com/find in the search bar

track a phone number from PC 1

Step 2: Sign in to your Google account

track a phone number from PC 2

Step 3: Choose your device and wait for it to show up on the map.

track a phone number from PC 3

Step 4: Choose what to do next — ring, erase the device, or security device.

track a phone number from PC 4

Pros & Cons: The advantage of using this method is that it is free and reliable. However, unlike some other options in this article, Find My Device has fewer advanced features. Plus, it requires physical access to the target device and the user will know that you track them.

How to Track a Cell Phone Number on Google Maps

You can also use Google Maps to track the phone number for free. All you need to do is to download the app, install it on your phone if you don’t already have it, and follow the instructions below:

Step 1: Open the Google Maps app on your device.

Step 2: Locate the Location Sharing option on the menu from the top right corner.

Step 3: Select Share Location.

Step 4: Choose who you’d like to share your real-time location with. You can also send your current location via apps such as WhatsApp, Viber, or Telegram.

Pros & Cons: While this method is free and most reliable, it doesn’t work if the location feature hasn’t been previously enabled on your device.

Free Cell Phone Tracker By Number

Besides popular free options, such as Google Maps, you can utilize other free third-party websites and apps to track phone numbers for free. One such app is called Phone Tracker By Number, and it can be found on Google Play.

It comes with a cool set of features, such as: receiving notification once the person’s location changes, seeing location history, and battery levels.

Here’s how to use it to track phone numbers:

Step 1: Open Google Play from the app drawer or look for the app in the search engine.

track phone number for free

Step 2: Type Phone Tracker By Number in the search bar

track phone number for free 2

Step 3: Locate the app and install it to track cell phone’s location and numbers

track phone number for free 3

Step 4: Once done, open the app, enter your phone numbers and register for an account.

track phone number for free 4

Step 5: Select the Locate option and find your device.

track phone number for free 5

Pros & Cons: This tracking phone method is excellent because it’s free and reliable. However, this app does require software installation on the target device to work, its location sharing has to be enabled on the target device as well. Since it is open, you will have to deal with many ads and popups.

Is It Legal to Track a Phone Number?

In most cases, it is illegal to track, access, or modify someone else’s cell device. Officials who work for law enforcement are allowed to do so — and only if they have a warrant. They usually employ advanced imei phone tracker technology, which is not accessible to the general public.

However,

 it is legal to track phone GPS coordinates if you have permission from the owner 

Tracking a cell phone of your own and locating a relative’s cell phone is legitimate. In any case, using a tracker tool to trace a number is always legal.

Wrapping It Up

Tracking an iPhone with a phone number is as simple as it can be with an Android device. If you lost your phone or want to track my boyfriends cell phone, one of the methods mentioned above will work for sure. Spy applications make the entire process even more straightforward with the use of GPS phone locator features. If you need enhanced features and want to receive customized reports and better tracking, you can opt for mSpy, an all-in-one tracker that’s reliable and easy to use.

Claire York author
Claire York

I am a journalist turned private detective researching most spy apps and their effectiveness. Apps, the internet, technology and cybersecurity have always been of interest to me. I turned this passion into a career after leaving my journalistic career at a well-known firm.

In overseeing all the important content development for this website, I go beyond what is being sold, detailed, advertised, reviewed, and trying to uncover everything there is to know about these applications.