“Systems!” My friends and Marie Kondo’s internet shout. “All you need is a system. As long as you always put your things down in the same place, you’ll never lose anything again,” they say, as I stagger in the door carrying my children’s backpacks, my tote bag, a tiny violin, and a sack of dog food.

Like Elizabeth Bishop, I have developed losing into a fine art—whatever I need seems to be walking away from me, as quickly as possible. I hid my Kindle from the 6-year-old, and now I can’t find it. My husband borrowed my wallet to grab the car insurance card; while I was looking for that, the dog got out of the yard. You may feel ambivalent about possibly stalking your friends or loved ones (please resist the urge to sew a tracker into your shady boyfriend’s coat), but without Bluetooth and GPS trackers, I would barely be able to function. I’ve listed my preferred uses for each of my favorite trackers, but many of these are multipurpose—if you can stick it on a dog, you can also stick it on a kid, and vice versa.

Confused about how these devices work? We have more information on our guide on how to find your phone. For more ideas, check out our roundups on the Best Travel Bags and our many other buying guides, such as the Best Portable Chargers.

Updated June 2024: We added Pebblebee, the Groove Wallet, and the Fitbit Ace LTE. We also added more information on how trackers work and updated links and prices.

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