Enable Lost Mode on Windows machines

Scalefusion offers numerous capabilities on Windows devices managed by them. With various security policies the device administrators ensure data protection at every possible level. Enabling Lost mode on devices is one such special feature where a device, if lost or stolen, can be marked as lost preventing its further usage even on restart. In large organizations where windows devices are being used by employees sitting in different geographical regions, it is likely that device can be lost or stolen or missing. Locking down the device remotely restricts the usage of device hence safeguarding the essential corporate data from being misused if the device falls into unknown hands.

With Lost mode being enabled, the device user sees a customized message on their lock screen which may also help with device recovery. Devices will remain in lost mode until the administrator disables it to regain the access and use it again in normal managed state.

Let us understand how simply Lost mode can be remotely enabled and disabled on Scalefusion managed Windows devices right from Scalefusion Dashboard.

Pre-requisites

1. Lost Mode is supported on Windows OS 10 and 11.
2. Devices should be enrolled with Scalefusion.
3. This feature requires the latest version of Scalefusion MDM agent (agent app for Windows) installed on the devices.

Marking a Windows Device as Lost

To enable Lost mode on devices, please follow the steps below:

1. On Scalefusion Dashboard, navigate to Devices section.
2. Click on View Details link under the Windows device which you have to mark as Lost.
3. On the device details page, click on the Gear icon and click on Mark as Lost. A dialog box will be displayed.
4. In the dialog box, enter a custom message to be displayed on lock screen, footnote message and phone number to appear on device. Custom properties like $device or $user can also be used in defining custom message.
5. Click on the button Mark as Lost.

   Lost mode will be applied on device only when it is connected to Internet. Without internet, lost mode command will not be acknowledged.

6. The device will get automatically restarted with the screen locked showing the custom message and other details you provided on dashboard.

   If the device is not online at the time when you are marking it as Lost, the command will get executed on the device whenever it is next connected to Internet.

   
7. If you click OK, you will be asked to sign in on the machine. On signing in, the screen with custom message and other details will again display as shown below:

Disabling Lost Mode on Windows Device

Once the device is located/recovered, the lost mode can also be disabled to regain it to its previous managed state. To disable lost mode,

1. On Scalefusion Dashboard, navigate to Devices section and click on View Details under the device for which you have to disable Lost mode.
2. On clicking gear icon, notice that there is an option Mark as found. Click on it.
3. The device will restart and come back to previous state again.
4. Now on Dashboard, click on Refresh Policy under gear icon. This is recommended for the previously applied policies to properly take effect on the device again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What happens if I delete a device from Dashboard which is marked as lost?

Answer: Deleting a device from Dashboard on which Lost mode is enabled, will remove the Lost Mode applied on it, as well as unenroll it.