Originally Posted by
IBMJunkman
If the stolen device is not logged in because the thief does not have the Microsoft password how would Microsoft track it?
Microsoft offer a 'Find my Device' service similar to Google and Apple
Find My Device is a feature that can help you locate your Windows 10 or Windows 11 device if it's lost or stolen. To use this feature, sign in to your device with a Microsoft account and make sure you're an administrator on it. This feature works when location is turned on for your device, even if other users on the device have turned off location settings for their apps. Any time you attempt to locate the device, users using the device will see a notification in the notification area.
- This setting works for any Windows device, such as a PC, laptop, Surface, or Surface Pen. It needs to be turned on before you can use it.
I don't know how they do it, but if you attach a network monitor to a Windows computer and then turn the computer on you can see it 'phones home' to Microsoft if it can without needing anyone to log on. It could report an ID value and a location if it knew it.
...but only if it's connected to the internet, and with a laptop it's easy to prevent it doing that until you've wiped the software off it.