How to tell if someone has been through your phone (Android checklist)

Android doesn't keep a record of who unlocked your phone, but it keeps plenty of other traces of what happened while you weren't holding it. If you think someone opened your phone, here's an Android checklist to go through, what each check can and can't tell you, and how to make the next time easier to spot.

Work through it soon, before new activity of your own covers the traces.

1. Recent apps

Open Overview, by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and holding, or tapping the Overview button. It lists the apps opened most recently, in order. An app you didn't use, or one sitting where you didn't leave it, is the quickest sign. Someone careful may have cleared the list, though, so an empty one doesn't prove anything.

2. Screen time in Digital Wellbeing

Open Settings → Digital Wellbeing (on Pixel phones, Digital Wellbeing & parental controls). Google says it shows your screen time, how many times each app was opened and how many notifications you received. Look for apps that were opened more often, or used for longer, than you remember.

3. Notification history

Many phones keep a history of recent notifications, including ones that were dismissed. Look in Settings → Notifications for Notification history, or search Settings for it. A message you never saw, already swiped away, is worth noticing. The history only exists if it was turned on beforehand, so turn it on now for next time.

4. Your browser and Google account

Browser history: in Chrome, tap ⋮, then History, and look for pages you didn't visit.
Google activity: if Web & App Activity is on, My Activity in your Google account lists recent searches, YouTube views and other Google activity, with times.
Signed-in devices: your Google account's security settings list every device signed in to it. Sign out any you don't recognise.

5. Photos, messages and calls

Check the places where someone would leave fingerprints of a different kind:

Photos: the gallery's and Google Photos' bins, for photos deleted when you didn't delete them.
Chats and texts: messages you didn't send, chats marked as read that you never opened, or a new linked device in WhatsApp's settings.
Calls: the call log, for calls you didn't make.

6. Apps you didn't install

Open Settings → Apps and look for anything new, then check Google Play's Manage apps & device list. An unfamiliar app with powerful access, such as Accessibility or device admin, could be a spy app. Our guide to finding hidden apps shows where to look, and why to think about your safety before you remove one.

What Android can't tell you

Android doesn't log wrong PINs or patterns on your lock screen, and it doesn't photograph whoever tried them, as our guide to seeing who tried to unlock your phone explains. If someone knows your PIN, an unlock looks the same as one of yours. That's why the checks above look at what happened after the phone was unlocked.

If someone has been through it

Change your screen lock to something longer and harder to guess, and don't use it in front of others.
Change the passwords for the accounts that matter, starting with your Google account, and turn on 2-step verification if it isn't on.
Check for spy apps as above, especially if the person had your phone for more than a few minutes.

Make the next time easier to spot

Lend your phone pinned to one app, as our guide to screen pinning and Guest mode shows.
Lock the apps that matter, with the built-in app lock our guide to locking apps on Android covers.
Keep private photos in a vault that keeps a record. Hidey is a vault app that encrypts each photo and video you hide, behind its own PIN or password, separate from your screen lock. With Pro, its access log lists every unlock and every wrong attempt, with the date and time, and an intruder selfie photographs whoever types a wrong PIN into Hidey. Both are stored encrypted inside the vault, as our security page explains.