My Windows Phone


My Windows Phone was a free online companion service for Windows Phone mobile devices from Microsoft. The service, released in conjunction with the launch of Windows Phone 7 on October 21, 2010, provides users with a free mobile phone back-up solution by wirelessly synchronizing contacts, calendar appointments, photos, and OneNote notebooks with a various tightly-integrated Windows Live services including Outlook.com People and Calendar, and Microsoft OneDrive. Users can access and manage their information stored on their Windows Phone devices via a password protected online portal using their Microsoft account. My Windows Phone also includes the Find My Phone service which facilitates tracking of a lost or stolen phone over the Internet or by messages. Similar phone finder services under various names are available for other families of smartphones. A similar service for Windows Mobile devices was available with Microsoft My Phone, withdrawn in 2011.
The service was updated on September 27, 2011 in conjunction with the release of Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" update, adding support for Microsoft Scrapbook and account management features including viewing app purchase history and reinstall apps from the Windows Phone Store. With the Windows Phone 8 "Apollo" update, My Windows Phone also added the My Family feature allowing parents to manage their child's accounts running Windows Phone 8. In February 2015 Microsoft moved the Find My Phone feature from the Windows Phone site to the Microsoft account website in preparation for Windows 10.

Features

My Windows Phone offers the following features:
FeatureDescription
My Phone
  • Contacts - Automatic synchronization of all contacts in the People hub to their Microsoft account, including contacts added from other connected services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Sina Weibo.
  • Calendar - Automatic synchronization of all calendar appointments and tasks with Outlook.com Calendar.
  • Mail - Automatic synchronization of all emails with Outlook.com.
  • OneDrive - Automatic synchronization of all Office documents, as well backup of any photos and videos taken on the phone onto on OneDrive. Users can also choose to share and collaboratively work on the notebooks with their contacts.
  • Messages - Automatic synchronization and backup of all SMS and MMS messages onto the cloud. Any messages sent or received via Skype and Messenger are also backed up and accessible via Outlook.com.
  • Settings - Automatic backup of the list of Windows Phone Store apps installed on the device, as well as call history, theme color, accounts setup, Internet Explorer favorites, and other phone settings to the cloud.
Find My Phone
  • Map It - Presents the phone's current location on a map using either the phone's current GPS location data, or via the triangulation of mobile network towers.
  • Ring It - Remotely rings the phone loudly for 60 seconds even if it is set to silent or vibrate mode.
  • Lock It - Allows users to remotely lock a device and set a personal PIN from the Find My Phone portal. Users can also enter a "please return" message to be displayed on the locked screen.
  • Erase It - Remotely erases the phone and resets it to factory default settings. The function will erase all personal data including all contacts, e-mails, applications, and application data.
    • My FamilyIntegrates with Microsoft Family Safety to allow users to manage their child's Microsoft accounts running Windows Phone 8. This includes restricting the child's account to download apps from the Windows Phone Store, setting the game ratings for any games downloaded from the store, and accept the any terms and conditions on the child's behalf.
    Account and purchase historyAllow users to view their Windows Phone Store app purchase history and reinstall apps for their Windows Phone device. Users can also edit their Microsoft account's payment and billing information, as well as edit their preferred contacting email address.