Your phone shows no bars, and someone needs help. Stay calm and work through these steps in order. They are the same whether you are on a trail, a farm road or a mountain pass.
1. Try the emergency number anyway
Dial the emergency number of the country you are in, or 112. "No bars" means no signal from your network. An emergency call can go through on any network your phone can reach, even one you have no contract with, and on many phones even with no SIM. If another carrier's tower is in reach, the call may connect where an ordinary call would not.
2. If your phone can, use satellite SOS
An iPhone 14 or later, and some recent Android phones, can text emergency services by satellite when there is no network at all, in the countries where the service is offered and under open sky. If the phone offers it after a failed emergency call, follow it. See where satellite SOS works. If you carry a satellite messenger or a personal locator beacon, use it now.
3. Find signal
- Go up and into the open. Signal is usually better on a ridge or a rise than in a valley, gorge or forest.
- Go back the way you came. You may have had signal not long ago.
- Use what phones measured. LastBar keeps a map of where phones had signal on your phone, and its Find Signal gives the distance and direction to the nearest place with signal, offline. For an emergency call it looks at every carrier.
- Send a text. A text can go out on a signal too weak for a call. Keep it short: who, what happened, where.
4. Say exactly where you are
Give coordinates from your phone's maps or compass app, or a what3words address, which works offline. Describe what you can see: a road, a river, a hut, a peak.
5. If you cannot get through
- Do not split up the group without a plan. If someone goes for help, they should know exactly where they left you and what to say.
- Save your phone's battery: turn the screen down and close other apps.
- Make yourself visible and stay warm and sheltered.
Questions people ask
Can I call 112 with no signal?
If no network at all reaches your phone, no call can go through, except by satellite on phones that offer it. But no bars often means only that your own network is out of reach. An emergency call to 112 or the local number can use any network the phone can reach, so it is always worth trying.
Does a text need less signal than a call?
Often, yes. A short text can get out on a weak or intermittent signal on which a call drops. Some countries let you text the emergency number only if you registered beforehand.
How do I find the nearest signal with no internet?
Only with a map you saved before. LastBar keeps the signal measured by phones around you on your phone, and Find Signal gives the distance and direction to the nearest place with signal without any connection.
