When you realize your laptop is missing or you think it’s been stolen, it’s easy to go into panic mode. That is the last thing you want to do. If you’ve prepared for the situation, keep an even head and take the following steps.

Retrace your day. It might be that you just left your laptop in class or in a lab. Most schools have lost and founds where you can check to see if a Good Samaritan has returned your laptop.

Change your passwords. Use a friend’s computer or a public computer at school to log into online accounts that have links to your personal or financial information (such as eBay, Amazon, Facebook) and change your passwords as soon as you realize your computer has been stolen. Doing so can help keep your information secure. 

Contact the computer’s manufacturer. Do this in case the thief tries to contact the manufacturer’s support group in an attempt to access your personal information. Provide them with your laptop’s serial (they might already have it if you registered your laptop when you bought it).

Notify the authorities. Call your local law enforcement or campus police and file a police report. Give them a description of your laptop, its serial number and tell them when you think it was stolen.

Call in the experts for laptop recovery. If your laptop was protected by a recovery solution like Computrace® LoJack® for Laptops, a Theft Recovery team would work with local law enforcement to track down and recover your laptop. The recovery team’s success rate is close to 80%. This is a far safer and more successful option than trying to recover your laptop on your own.

Remember, there’s no substitute for planning ahead when it comes to protecting your laptop.