How to Find a Lost DJI Drone – Step By Step Guide

Lost your DJI drone? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here is our step by step guide on how to find a lost DJI drone. As I have already written quite a few different posts about finding lost drones in general, I will go ahead and make this guide something special. This guide is solely dedicated to finding lost DJI drones. We will be going over such things as DJI’s GO App as well as DJI’s famous go-home / return-home button (that sometimes works and other times doesn’t). Take a look below, as we definitely believe that after reading our guide you will be in a much better position compared to where you started from.

Let’s get right into it.

Understanding Why and How a DJI Drone Could Get Lost or Go Missing

DJI Drones aren’t notorious for getting lost or flying away, but it does happen from time to time.  As DJI makes some really awesome drones, they do end up selling a ton of them. With this being the case, there is potential for a lot of lost drones if not careful.  Please take a look below for some of the more common reasons as to why DJI Drone’s could end up missing or lost. How to find a lost DJI drone continues..

1. DJI Drone Flies out of Range – It is very tough for this type of a drone loss to occur as DJI drones are typically the leaders in the industry when it comes high drone range. The DJI Drone’s can range all the way up to 3+ Miles. So, if you lose your drone at the 3 mile mark, it will be very hard to locate it, but not impossible.
2. The Battery on the DJI Drone has Died – When something like this happens, the DJI drone is definitely in some trouble.  Not only will you lose full connectivity with the drone, but there is a good chance that the Drone will just drop like a brick down to the ground. This is probably one of the worst ways that you can lose your drone as the drone will probably suffer quite a bit of physical damage due to the free fall back down to the ground.
3. There is Physical Damage to the Drone or the Drone’s Components – If god forbid, something happened to your drone; something along the lines of a bird hitting it, someone shoots at it over their property (yep, this type of a thing does happen), hitting a tree, a roof, weather etc.. If one of the motors gets damaged, or a propeller fails, there is a very good chance that your drone would no longer be able to stay airborne.
4. The Return Home Button Doesn’t Work – Some DJI drone’s come equipped with a return home feature included with the DJI Go App. If your drone loses connectivity to DJI’s Go App, then the return home feature no longer works. This can become a big problem if you are no longer able to communicate with the drone.

What are the Chances that you will Find your Lost DJI Drone?

The one good thing that you have going for you as a DJI drone owner, is the fact that most DJI drones operate through DJI’s Go App. The app is available for both Apple and Android devices and is very versatile. It has certain features that can help with lost drone recovery, such as the find my aircraft feature and the DJI Go App logs feature. With this app alone, there is a really good chance that you can pin point your drone’s last location on the app’s map and use the other controller features to aid in this search. Please continue below for more information about the how to find a lost DJI drone question.

What Can you do to Prevent DJI Lost Drone Flyaways?

What are some things that you could do or some steps that you could take in order to prevent flyaways and drones getting lost issues? Well, as mentioned earlier; the DJI platform is pretty good when it comes to drone tracking due to the DJI Go App. However, as outlined above, things do happen where even the app will not help much. Also, not all DJI drones have the Go App find-my-aircraft feature enabled. We are of course talking about the older DJI drone models. One way that you could safe guard against drone loss issues is to purchase an after market drone tracker for your drone. In my opinion, this is a must.  It is almost as good as having drone insurance. There are a few ways that you can go when it comes to drone trackers. We recommend a dedicated drone tracker as the number one choice. The secondary choice would be a cellular tracker.

The Dedicated Tracker that I Recommend is the Marco Polo Drone Tracker.

This particular tracker works great for long range drones (3+ miles of range), it has no monthly or annual service costs or contracts and does not rely on cellular tower signals for its tracking purposes. The Marco Polo Drone tracker in our opinion is the best way of avoiding the need of having to look into “how to find a lost DJI drone”. Take a look below for some more information about this tracker.

This drone tracker has the following features:

– It is a complete Location and Recovery System
– It does not require any GPS or Cell Service.
– There are ZERO Monthly Fees
– With this Unit, You Will Never Lose your Drone Again
– This is a good Starter System

Some more information below from Amazon’s Product Page for this Device: MARCO POLO DRONE TRACKER

1. Simple to setup and use, single button-push to begin searching for lost RC model with real-time distance and direction feedback
2. Works anywhere, totally self-contained, no GPS or cell network required, no monthly service contracts, ideal for remote areas
3. Rechargeable lithium-ion battery in transceiver tag gives you up to 15 days to find your lost model
4. Super small, compact tag transceiver easily fits on even small RC models, weighs only .42 oz. (12 g)
5. Does not interfere with RC radios – Marco Polo only transmits when you activate search mode from the handheld locator
6. If you want to learn about how to track a drone, this is the device for you
7. How to Find a Lost DJI Drone – This is the best device on the market to help avoid any lost or missing drone issues

The Cellular Tracker that I Recommend is the Trackimo

Although not as accurate and sure-proof system as the Marco Polo, the Trackimo can provide a cheaper alternative to the Marco Polo Tracker. The Trackimo device is a cellular based drone tracker that relies on cellular towers for it’s tracking abilities. The Trackimo also requires an annual subscription to work. The range is also not as good as the Marco Polo Tracker.

This drone tracker has the following features:

– Universal Personal GPS Tracker
– 1 Year Monitoring included
– Cellular Based Tracker

Here is some more information about this device from Amazon’s Product Page:  TRACKIMO

1. The first year is free – Only $5 per month after the included 12 month service period is over.
2. Trackimo offers some of the cheapest monthly service contracts for tracking devices out there.
   
3. Worldwide Coverage – Trackimo devices can be tracked via Cellular Connectivity (Only 2G currently – this can be a big drawback)
   
4. Free Android and iPhone Apps included: The SOS Button – With a single press of the SOS button, the drone’s location can be located via the app’s notification, an email or a text.
5. Real Time Tracking – GPS and GSM provide instant, highly accurate current location and one year of history.

How to Find a Lost DJI Drone – Step by Step Guide with TIPS and IDEAS

Without further adieu, lets get on to the steps on how to locate your lost DJI drone. We will go ahead and cover some basic techniques such as the “find my aircraft” feature as well as some more advanced ones like the DJI Phantom log. Here we go, diving right in.

Step #1 – DJI Go App

– The DJI Go App might be one of the more powerful tools help aid you in your quest on how to find a lost DJI drone that has flown away. The app comes equipped with a variety of helpful features such as the Live HD View, auto take-off, auto land, drone tracking via the Go App’s map as well as the return to home feature. I will go ahead and break down some of these features in the below steps. This step might also be helpful with when looking into how to find lost DJI spark.

Step #2 – DJI Go App MAP

(Update Maps) – This is very important when trying to figure out how to find a lost DJI drone. Before even starting your flight; you should make sure to update all of your maps. If you have an idea of the general path where you will be flying your drone, you should make sure to update that area completely. And I mean completely. Make sure that you zoom in and around the flight area so that the map loads all of the details. You don’t want to be left hanging when your drone goes missing by staring at still-loading/rendering maps on your DJI Go App’s map. It is very important that you update your app’s map with the complete flight path and that you completely zoom in to maximum magnification before take-off. Here is why this is important. If and when your drone goes missing, you will find that the return home feature is no longer functioning as expected. Do not panic here. This is where your update map will come in handy. All you will have to do now, is to go ahead and zoom in right on top of that red-arrow that is your drone on the map.  All you will have to do now is to take a walk with your mobile device (Tablet or Phone) and go to the general area where your red-arrow is pointing to. The drone should be somewhere very near where this red arrow is on the map (usually within some feet or a few meters). This is a really easy way to make sure that you can locate your missing DJI drone easily. Keep in mind though, this only works on the newer models of DJI’s drones. Please continue reading below for more steps on how to find a lost DJI drone.

Step #3 – Return Home & the Find My Drone Features

The return-home is your best friend when in trouble. Quite often, you can be flying your DJI drone and all of a sudden your FPV live feed cuts out. This is the time to just go ahead and press the return home button, and more times than not your drone will come back flying to you within moments. The reason behind this is that the video feed tends to cut out before the drone completely loses connectivity with the controller. You must be ready to react very quickly with this and hit that button or feature ASAP as you might only have seconds in time before the drone really goes completely dark on you. DJI Go 4 find my drone is an additional feature on the Go App that could also be helpful when your drone has gone missing. This feature allows for you to pin point your drone’s last location on the map. More to come in the form of a new guide on the “how to use find my drone DJI” feature.

Step #4 – DJI’s Phantom Log

This is another really awesome feature that DJI is pioneering. It is the Phantom Log. Or in simpler terms, your DJI Go App keeps logs that can be utilized to see what happened to your lost drone. This is a really good tool that can be used to figure out how to find a lost DJI drone. The logs that are saved by the app can be uploaded here on this page: DJI’s Phantom Logs. The logs contain a ton of information that can be really helpful in your search for your lost drone. Some of the information found in the logs is: your flight path, duration of your flight, travel distance, maximum speed and maximum altitude just to name a few. This tool can really tell you the full story and should be able to point you towards your lost DJI drone’s location 🙂

Step #5 – Keep the Controller Turned ON (or App if using the App)

Once you have a really good idea of where your DJI drone might be, here is what you should do. Take a walk towards the last known area where you think your drone might be located, turn your controller on and continue walking towards the spot where you think your drone is. With your controller being turned on, there is a VERY GOOD CHANCE that your controller and drone will be able to make a connection once more as you get closer to it.

This how to find a lost DJI drone page can also be helpful for drone pilots having the following issues:

How to find lost DJI Phantom – Steps 1 through 5 should be a good place to start. If not, then continue reading below for more ideas.

DJI spark find my drone – This feature allows for you to locate your drone on the map. It also might be accompanied with longitude and latitude coordinates of your drone’s location.

Find my phantom function – As just mentioned above, this feature can help you find your drone with the click of a button. Neat little feature that will show you your drone’s last coordinates (at times this will get you close, but not always).

DJI find my drone – Once again, the DJI Go App comes with this Find-My-Drone feature. You should play around with this before losing your drone to get a better idea on how to effectively use it when searching for a lost drone.

Find my drone DJI Mavic – Fortunately, the Mavic Pro should be equipped with this feature as a part of DJI’s App as well. Helpful feature indeed.

I am really hoping that the above information has been helpful to you as you search for your lost DJI drone. This “how to find a lost DJI drone” page has been built with you in mind, the Drone Enthusiast, but moreover; it has been built to cater you, the DJI Drone Enthusiast. If you are still having issues and are unable to locate your DJI drone, then please check out our full detailed guide on How To Find a Lost Drone Without a Tracker. That page has over 10 TIPS, Tricks and Ideas that you can try in your search.

I really wish you the best of luck and hope that you can locate your lost bird. Happy hunting, fellow Drone Enthusiast!