Device not showing in list

After adding a device to your Prey account, it should show up within a few minutes in your Prey panel as long as the device has an active internet connection. If this does not happen within 20 minutes, check the possible solutions in this article.

  • Are you reinstalling Prey on a device?

    Review the option under Settings > Tracking Settings. If this option is toggled On, then the previous slot will be used for the reinstallation. For this case, just check the previous entry for that device, and it should be updated with the latest installation information.

  • Does your device not have a unique serial number?

    The above option may recycle slots for devices that do not have unique serial numbers. In this case, toggle the option Off, and try installing the client again.

  • Was there an issue with the installation process in Prey for Computers?

    There may be certain instances in which the Prey for Computers client may not generate a unique device_key identifier for your device. In this case, please retrieve your setup_key from the Setups section in the Settings tab of your Prey panel, and try the following (by operating system):

  • Execute the following command in a command prompt with administrator privileges:

    C:\Windows\Prey\current\bin\prey config account authorize -a setup_key

    Make sure to replace the setup_key placeholder with your Setup key. Afterwards, restart the Prey client by running the following command in a command prompt:

    taskkill /F /IM node.exe

    Wait 5 minutes for the client to restart, and then check if the device appears in your panel.

  • Execute the following command in a Terminal window (you’ll be prompted to enter your administrator password):

    sudo /usr/local/lib/prey/current/bin/prey config account authorize -a setup_key

    Make sure to replace the setup_key placeholder with your Setup key. Afterwards, restart the Prey client by executing the following two commands in a Terminal window, one after the other:

    sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.prey.owl.plist
    sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.prey.owl.plist

    Wait 5 minutes, and check if the device appears in your Panel.

If none of the above apply, or your device still doesn’t show up in your list, please contact our Support team with the following information:

Please contact our Support team with the following information:

  • The Device key for the device you’re trying to add (you can find this is in the address bar of your browser when in the Device view).
  • If you have access to the device, please include the Prey.log and Prey.conf files from the device you’re attempting to locate. To extract these files, please follow these steps:
    • You can locate the prey.log and prey.conf files in the installation folder for the Prey client (by default C:\Windows\Prey)
    • Execute the following strings in a Terminal window:
      cat /var/log/prey.log
      cat /etc/prey/prey.conf
      Afterwards, copy and paste the information on a text file.

Our team will get in touch with you within 24 working hours.

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