how to track someone's location with phone number

While tracking someone’s phone may seem like an invasion of privacy, it can be invaluable in situations where safety outweighs personal boundaries. There are instances where checking someone’s location is necessary, such as:

• Monitoring children’s activities: Ensuring kids attend school or extracurricular activities rather than visiting inappropriate places like bars.
• Ensuring elderly relatives' safety: Confirming they are secure and in their expected locations.
• Supporting a struggling friend: Helping a friend with addiction avoid harmful environments or bad influences.

Choosing the right tool is critical to avoid issues like inaccurate tracking, delays, or non-compliance with privacy laws. After evaluating over 60 options, I have identified the best phone number location tracking apps. Read my detailed review to find the ideal app for your specific needs.

Method 1: How to Track Live Location by Phone Number using Spokeo

Spokeo is a reliable application for reverse phone number lookups. It provides insights into unknown numbers, helps you research someone's background before meeting them, and verifies whether your contacts continue to use their current numbers.

How to Find Location with Phone Number Using Spokeo?

Here is how you can find a location using Spokeo by phone number:

Step 1: Visit the Spokeo website and choose the Reverse Phone Lookup option from the menu at the top. Enter the phone number you wish to investigate in the provided search bar.

Step 2: Click on Search Now, and you will be directed to an age verification page. Confirm you are over 18 by selecting your birth year and clicking Submit.

Step 3: Spokeo will analyze the number and gather details from publicly verified sources.

Step 4: Once the analysis is complete, click View Results. Provide your full name and email address as prompted, then click Continue to activate your account and access the comprehensive report.

Best Apps to Track a Phone Number Location

1) Spokeo

2) mSpy

3) Scannero.io

4) BeenVerified

5) GEOfinder

Method 2: Track Someone's Location with Phone Number

1) Spokeo

Spokeo is a top-notch phone tracker app for finding someone's location. I appreciated its ability to deliver precise location details quickly, along with comprehensive information about the phone number's owner. What stood out to me was the alert feature, notifying me when new data was added to existing reports, ensuring the information remained updated and reliable most of the time.

Features:

• Address Details: Spokeo provided me with complete address details. By simply entering a phone number, I could access the current address of the phone number owner.
• Background Details: I found Spokeo very helpful as it instantly gave me the owner’s phone number and detailed background information, including birth date, criminal records, marital status, divorce history, and owned properties.
• Search Parameters: Besides phone numbers, Spokeo allows searching for a person’s details using their name, social media usernames, email addresses, or residential location.
• Neighborhood Info: I could easily view neighborhood details of the phone number owner, such as crime rates, safety statistics, and the number of registered sex offenders in the area.
• Compatibility: Spokeo works seamlessly across Android, Windows, and iOS platforms.

Pros:

• An extensive database offering comprehensive information on individuals within the USA.
• I found it intuitive and easy to use on both mobile and web platforms.
• Provides reverse phone lookup, email search, and address search functionalities.
• No registration is required to view initial search results.

Cons:

• I was disappointed with the free search results as they offered only limited information.
• It lacks global search capabilities.

Free Trial:

• 7-Day Trial: Available for just $0.95.

2) mSpy

mSpy offers a reliable solution for tracking a device's location in real time (ensuring compliance with privacy laws). While testing the app, I found its real-time tracking to be highly accurate. I recommend it for those seeking precise location monitoring. The app also provides route history over a specific timeframe, including details such as addresses, timestamps, and accuracy.

Features:

• GPS Location History: mSpy gave me a comprehensive list of places visited by the target device owner, complete with coordinates and timestamps.
• Geo-fencing: I could set up safe and dangerous zones to monitor activity. The app notified me when the individual entered or exited these zones, including real-time location updates.
• Text Message Tracking: It effectively tracked both incoming and outgoing messages, providing a detailed log of conversations, timestamps, and recipient details for full transparency.
• Data Encryption: The app ensured all location and activity data remained encrypted and secure. I appreciated its ability to monitor visits to specific marked zones.
• Stealth Operation Mode: It ran in stealth mode, keeping tracking activity completely hidden from the target device user for discreet monitoring.
• Compatibility: The app works seamlessly on Android, iPhone, and iPad platforms.

Pros:

• Includes a keylogger to record keystrokes on the target device.
• During my evaluation, I found the installation process to be simple and quick.
• Provides real-time updates on the target device’s activity for instant monitoring.

Cons:

• Some users may encounter occasional glitches in the app’s functionality.
• Limited features are available without rooting or jailbreaking the target device.

Refund Policy:

• 14-day Money-Back Guarantee.

3) Scannero.io

Scannero.io specializes in phone location tracking, enabling users to share their location for safety or convenience (when allowed). From my experience, this tool is designed to function smoothly on any operating system. What I particularly value is its simplicity; you do not need to worry about the specific operating system of the target device. Scannero.io helps you locate the device, wherever it might be globally. However, keep in mind that you must install this app on the target device you intend to track.

Features:

• Precision Tracking: With Scannero.io, I can accurately determine the exact location of a phone number, providing detailed coordinates to pinpoint its position.
• Scalability: The free version is impressive, supporting the tracking of unlimited phone numbers without any restrictions.
• Customization Options: I could create personalized messages to prompt the target to click on the link. For my family, I tailored messages to communicate my tracking intentions clearly.
• User-Friendly Interface: Finding someone's location is straightforward—simply input the phone number, and no Jailbreak is required for this feature.
• Device Compatibility: It works with all mobile devices. I have tested it on both Android and iOS phones without issues.

Pros:

• Tracks real-time locations globally with just a phone number.
• The link history feature provides valuable insight.
• No need to install software on the target device.

Cons:

• Limited to tracking phone locations only.

Refund Policy:

14-Day Money-Back Guarantee.

4) BeenVerified

BeenVerified is a versatile tool that provides comprehensive insights into individuals' backgrounds and social profiles. When using BeenVerified, you gain access to a variety of public records sourced from different places, such as court documents, social networks, census information, and government databases. The tool stands out for its simplicity and speed, delivering quick results that make searching for information more convenient. Notably, BeenVerified also features a search function for unclaimed funds, which is particularly useful if you are interested in discovering forgotten payments like tax refunds, pensions, or dormant bank accounts.

Features:

• Search Results: It delivers precise results by drawing from a diverse set of databases, ensuring a thorough search experience. With BeenVerified, I could perform searches using usernames, email addresses, people, phone numbers, and more.
• Detailed Reports: The tool offers in-depth reports, providing personal information, online profiles, and other critical details to help me get a fuller picture.
• Address Details: Its address lookup feature allowed me to easily find both the current and past addresses of the phone number owner. Besides their current home, I could also view other places they had links to in the past, including schools or colleges.
• Location Tracking: I personally found the location tracking feature to be incredibly helpful in keeping tabs on my family. The real-time updates and location history gave me a great sense of comfort and security.
• Supported Platforms: BeenVerified is compatible with Android, iOS, and Web, making it easy to use across all devices.

Pros:

• It sends notifications whenever changes occur in a report, ensuring I'm always up-to-date.
• Offers 24/7 customer support to resolve any issues I may face.
• The simple and intuitive interface was a standout feature that made navigation smooth and straightforward.

Cons:

• I found the limitation of searches per month quite restrictive, as it can perform up to only 100 reports.

Free Trial:

• Free Trial: 7-Day Trial available for $1

5) GEOfinder

GEOfinder is a powerful tool that allows you to determine the exact location of a phone number on a map, compatible with all mobile networks. Throughout my evaluation, I tested its tracking capabilities and was genuinely impressed with its precision in pinpointing both current and historical locations.

Features:

• Address Details: I used GEOfinder's tracking feature to accurately locate my family members. It provided me with their addresses, phone numbers, and other essential details that made tracking easy.
• SMS Tracking Link: GEOfinder allows me to send an SMS to the target individual, including a tracking link, which is handy for keeping tabs on their location.
• Unlimited Location Requests: I appreciated the ability to send unlimited geolocation requests, even during the free trial period, which made the tracking process smooth and uninterrupted.
• Geolocation Capability: This tool works across all mobile networks worldwide, allowing me to locate anyone, anywhere, without geographical limitations.
• Multi-Platform Support: GEOfinder is accessible on Android, Windows, and iOS, ensuring compatibility and convenience across devices.

Pros:

• It allows me to effortlessly trace the precise location of a phone number on a map.
• I received prompt updates whenever new information was added to my report.
• The tool provides a complete route map, making it easy to track movements.

Cons:

• It lacks social media monitoring features, which I found to be a notable drawback.

Refund Policy:

• Refund Policy: GEOfinder comes with a 14-day Money-Back Guarantee, which adds a layer of trust for new users.

Method 3: How to Track Someone Phone Number Location Using mSpy

mSpy is a versatile GPS tracking solution that enables remote monitoring of a user’s phone location and activities. It offers highly precise real-time location tracking along with a comprehensive route history. Besides location tracking, this powerful app also allows monitoring of social media activities, messages, multimedia, and more.

Here are the steps I followed to track my children's phones discreetly using mSpy:

Step 1: Visit www.mspy.com. Select the mobile OS (Android or iOS) you wish to monitor, and install the mSpy app on the device.

Step 2: Wait for mSpy to gather the necessary data and start its monitoring features. Please note that it may take 1-2 hours for the data to sync completely, depending on the target device’s internet speed.

Step 3: Click on the GPS Location feature. This will allow you to view the target's real-time location, including address details, timestamps, and map coordinates.

Step 4: Lastly, click on the “View on Google” option to get a complete Google Maps view of the target device’s current location.

While mSpy does not offer direct location tracking by phone number, it provides advanced features like geofencing to keep track of specific areas of interest. If you are interested in discreetly monitoring someone’s location, mSpy is an excellent choice. It runs covertly on the target device and uses GPS to deliver accurate location updates without alerting the user. Additionally, even if the person changes their SIM card, mSpy will still be able to track their location, as it is tied to the app itself rather than the phone number.

Method 4: Spy on iPhones & iOS Devices

The iPhone, iPad, and iMac are all equipped with a built-in location tracking feature called Find My. This handy app lets users quickly locate a lost or targeted Apple device.

Here are the steps to enable the Find My app on various iOS devices:

Enable Find My for iCloud:

Step 1: Tap the Settings icon on your device.

Step 2: Tap on the device owner's name (Apple ID) to access account settings.

Step 3: Locate and tap on iCloud to open iCloud-related settings.

Step 4: Scroll down to find Find Me in the list of options.

Step 5: Turn on Find My, ensuring that the toggle button is enabled.

Enable Find My for iPhone and iPad Devices:

Step 1: Tap the Settings icon.

Step 2: Select your Apple ID at the top of the screen.

Step 3: Tap Find My > Find My iPhone.

Step 4: Enable the following settings by toggling the buttons: Find My iPhone, Find My Network, and Send Last Location.

Other Methods to Track Cell Phone by Number

Here are a few additional methods that can assist you in locating someone by their phone number, enabling you to track their location effectively:

1) Caller Name (CNAM) Lookup:

Caller Name (CNAM) Lookup is another approach for determining a person’s location using their phone number. There are various CNAM Lookup services available online, such as TrueCaller and Spokeo, which can reveal caller ID details, including name, email, city, and state.

2) Search on Whitepages.com:

Whitepages.com is another tool that provides valuable information about phone number owners. Although it does not provide a real-time location, you can often find the current address linked to a particular phone number. If you want to understand how to track phone numbers effectively, visit Whitepages.com. Sometimes, it’s possible to retrieve the related home address without much hassle.

Additionally, Whitepages.com utilizes SS7 networks, which provide relevant information linked to phone numbers through the SS7 network infrastructure.

Can you Track a Phone with an IMEI Number?

Yes, it is possible to track a phone's location for free using its IMEI number. The IMEI number, which can be found directly on your mobile device, is an important identifier that you should store for future reference in case of theft or loss. You can also request assistance from your service provider or the authorities to locate your phone if it goes missing.

This unique 15-digit number is specific to each mobile device. Keep in mind that different models store the IMEI code in different locations within the phone's settings.

Is It Legal to Track Someone’s Phone Number?

Tracking someone's phone number is generally not classified as a crime in most countries or regions. However, it is important to note that doing so without the phone owner's knowledge can be seen as an invasion of privacy, which could result in legal consequences. The specific laws and repercussions surrounding unauthorized tracking vary from one country to another.

Verdict

This article highlights practical tools for phone number tracking that are ideal for emergencies or for monitoring loved ones safely. Spokeo excels in offering detailed location histories, while mSpy provides comprehensive GPS and activity tracking. Scannero.io stands out for simplicity and quick results. I appreciated the balance between usability and privacy considerations, ensuring readers can choose wisely. Each tool offers unique benefits suited to specific needs.

FAQs

Can I find the location of a phone number?

Yes, it is possible to find the general location of a phone number, but the accuracy depends on the tools or services used. Reverse phone lookup tools or mobile carrier services often provide approximate location details like the city or region. However, pinpointing a phone’s exact location typically requires specialized tracking apps or legal permissions from service providers.

Can someone track your location with a phone number?

Yes, but with limitations. Casual tracking via a phone number might reveal general information such as the service provider and the registered location. However, accurate real-time tracking requires advanced tools or apps designed for this purpose, which often require the user's consent. Unauthorized tracking without permission is not only challenging but also potentially illegal in many jurisdictions.

How to track location with phone number using Google Maps?

To track a location using Google Maps, the phone number owner must share their location with you. They can do this by granting access through the Google Maps app under the "Location Sharing" feature. Without explicit consent, Google Maps cannot be used to track someone’s location for privacy reasons.

Can I track my phone from another phone?

Yes, you can track your phone using another device if location tracking is enabled on your device. Apps like Google’s "Find My Device" or Apple’s "Find My iPhone" allow you to locate, lock, or erase your phone remotely, provided it is connected to the internet and linked to your account.