What happens if you lose your entire digital life while you are thousands of kilometres from home?
This happened to me.
One night, while I was sleeping in a holiday resort in Mozambique, an intruder entered my room, silently stole several items — including my iPhone and my laptop — and left. I discovered the theft when I woke up and reached for my phone on the bedside table and realised it wasn’t there.
What followed was a month-long process of trying to reclaim the life that was stored on those two devices.
Now that I am finally nearing the end of that ordeal, my focus has shifted to something else: future-proofing my digital life. Because if I ever lose a device again, I don't want it to take weeks to regain access to my accounts, my work, and my identity.
When something like this happens, the real challenge is not replacing the hardware. It’s regaining access to money, accounts, documents, communication, and the systems that prove you are you.
This is the first article in a two-part series. Today, I’m covering how to preparebeforesomething goes wrong. In the next issue, I’ll walk through what to do — and in what order — if you actually lose a device.
Here are five important steps you can take right now.
1. Make sure you can authenticate sensitive apps without a specific device
Go into your online banking, PayPal, and any other sensitive accounts. Set up multiple authentication methods, and make sure at least one of them does not depend on the phone you carry with you.
If your only verification method is a text message to your mobile phone, and that phone is stolen, you’ve locked yourself out of your own money.
Set up options like:
- A secondary email address
- A different phone number
- Security questions or other backup verification methods
What saved me was an old decision I’d completely forgotten about: I had once added my landline as an authentication method. With the help of my husband back home, I was able to check my accounts and change passwords immediately.
2. Set up recovery contacts for your Apple ID or Google account
This is one of my biggest regrets.
My Apple ID password was saved on the stolen device. Resetting it required multiple verification steps, including a code sent to my phone number, which I couldn’t access until I returned home and replaced my phone. Weeks later, I am still navigating Apple’s security waiting period.
If I had set up a recovery contact, I could have regained access almost immediately.
Your phone is replaceable. Your digital identity needs to be recoverable.
If you use Apple, set a recovery contact for your Apple ID. If you use Android, set recovery options for your Google account.
3. Add backup authentication to your primary tech ecosystem account
For some people this is Apple. For others, it's Google. For me, it’s Microsoft.
I assumed replacing my laptop would be simple: buy a new one, enter my Microsoft password, and continue working from my cloud storage.
Instead, Microsoft tried to verify me by sending a code to my stolen phone. Until I could receive texts again, I couldn’t even get past the login screen.
Make sure your main ecosystem account has:
- A recovery email (different from the account itself)
- A secondary verification method beyond your phone
Your laptop, files, email, and cloud storage may all depend on this one login.
4. Use a password manager that isn’t trapped on one device
We’ve all gotten used to clicking “save password” and letting our phone or browser remember everything. That works until the device is gone. If your passwords only exist on one phone or laptop, they’re gone with it.
A password manager allows you to:
- Access passwords from any device
- Use stronger, unique passwords
- Remember only one master password
It’s one of the simplest ways to make your digital life portable instead of device-dependent.
5. Know key phone numbers without your phone
We don’t memorise numbers anymore. But if your device disappears, so do your contacts.
During a crisis like this, you need to reach people who can:
- Help you access accounts
- Transfer funds
- Verify information
- Support you emotionally
Keep a written list or memorise a few critical numbers. It sounds old-fashioned until you need it.
This list isn’t exhaustive. It’s simply what my experience taught me matters most. Losing a device is inconvenient. Losing access to your digital life can be destabilising. A little preparation now can mean the difference between a minor disruption and weeks of stress.
In the next post, I’ll cover exactly what to do — step by step — if your phone or laptop is lost or stolen while you’re travelling.
