You shut the door and watch the driver pull away, when suddenly, your heart stops – your phone is in the car. With your calendar, work email, and personal info all on it, we know that it’s a stressful moment. The good news is that Lyft has a feature that could help you get your phone back, often in two hours.
How to get your phone back if you forget it in a Lyft
The fastest way is to request a return phone ride directly from the Lyft Help center. Your driver can bring your phone to you.
From another device (like a friend’s phone or your laptop once you get home), go to the Lyft Help center and request a return phone ride
Enter your location and when you’d like to get your phone
Follow your phone return ride on your device
How do lost phone return rides work?
A lost phone return ride works like a regular Lyft ride, but it’s for your phone. Your driver will come to you and bring back your lost phone.
Because everything happens in the Lyft Help center, there’s no swapping phone numbers with your driver or going back and forth over meetup times.
Once you have your phone, you can see when it was dropped off and can reach out to the driver or Lyft Support if you have any follow-up questions.
In a world where our whole lives are on our phones, losing yours is enough to make your stomach drop. That’s why we worked to make it easier for you to get it back.
How quickly will I get my phone back?
Usually, you can get your phone back on the same day. According to our data, 80% of riders get their phone back the same day. Nearly half of phones returned in less than 2 hours, compared to 3-7 hours before this feature was launched.
What’s coming next
Return rides for any lost item
Of course, sweaters, jackets, wallets, and many other objects get left behind too. To make it easier to return all of your lost items, we’ll be expanding the lost phone return feature for all lost items by winter 2026.
Lost phone detection
Sometimes it takes a while to realize when you’ve forgotten something. Soon, we’ll be able to tell you if you left an item behind.
How it will work:
Before the ride, turn on location sharing in your privacy settings.
After your ride ends, we check whether your phone is still moving with the vehicle a few minutes after drop-off.
If it’s still in the car after the ride ends, we’ll send you and the driver an email notification.
Losing your phone can be stressful – but getting it back doesn’t have to be. Lost phone return rides are live now in the U.S. and Canada, so next time your phone takes an unplanned detour, Lyft's got you covered.
The FAQs on return phone rides
How much do return phone rides cost?
They are free for Lyft Pink members. For other riders, you’ll see the price of your ride in the app, so there will be no surprises. As always, the price is based on many factors, such as the distance between you and the driver, traffic, and Lyft demand at the time of your return ride.
What if I can’t reach my driver?
If you lost the phone associated with your account or you’re unable to contact your driver, fill out this form so our team can assist you.
What if I can’t find my item?
Report it through Ride History on your Lyft app or the link in your ride receipt email. You’ll be able to message or call your driver for 24 hours after the ride, without sharing your phone number. If you can’t reach them, contact Lyft Support. Read our Lost and Found policy for more information.
When will the lost phone return rides feature be available?
They are available now for all eligible Lyft rides in North America.
Visit our Help center to learn more about our Lost and Found policy.