A misplaced, stolen, or damaged phone can put a damper on any day. Luckily, the powerful Find My™ feature on your iPhone® offers a convenient way to keep track of your device, secure it, and even remotely erase data. Follow along as Asurion Experts share how to turn on and off Find My iPhone.
Important to note: If your phone needs repair or replacement and is covered by insurance—such as the Asurion mobile protection plan—you need to follow the steps for how to deactivate Find My iPhone closely before returning your device.
How to turn on Find My iPhone
When turned on, Find My helps you track down your iPhone's current location if it goes missing—even when it's offline—and gives you the option to lock or erase your device to keep your information safe. Now that you understand how it works, here's how to turn it on:
Go to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My iPhone
Tap the switch to turn it on or off.
To see your device even when it's offline, turn on Find My network by tapping the switch.
For more steps to take if your device is misplaced, read our guide to finding your lost or stolen iPhone.
There's also a tool called Activation Lock, which prevents people from accessing your device or deleting your data, so long as they don't have your Apple ID and Apple ID password. Activation Lock is automatically turned on when you enable Find My.
There are a few reasons to turn off Find My iPhone: if you want to keep your location private, if you're selling or giving your iPhone away, or if you’ve filed a claim and you’re sending it in for repair or replacement by your phone insurance provider. There are a few options to do so—choose the one that works best for you.
If you still have your phone and it's functional:
How to turn off Find My on your iPhone
The Find My app makes it easy. Just follow these steps:
Go to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My [Device].
Tap to turn it on or off.
Enter your Apple ID, then tap Turn Off.
Is Security Delay in Progress? You may experience an Apple security delay before you are able to turn off Find My. Don't stress, though — you can still use your phone during this pause.
The delay will last about an hour. When it ends, restart at step 1.
As a reminder: When the delay is over, there is a short window to turn off Find My. Be sure to quickly complete the steps.
You can alsoturn off Find My by removing it atiCloud.com.Yourphone has to be turned off for the Remove option to appear.
If you no longer have your iPhone or it's unusable:
If you sent your device to your phone insurance provider without turning off Find My iPhone first or if your phone is unusable, it's OK. You can still remotely turn off Find My and erase your iPhone.
How to remotely erase your iPhone
If you don't have access to your lost device, you can remotely erase your phone from your computer to keep your personal info secure. Here's how to do it:
Turn off your phone.
Go to iCloud.com/find on your computer and enter your Apple ID and password.
Click All Devices on the Find My iPhone screen, then click on the device that you want to erase and remove from Find My. (If you don't see All Devices, that's because you've already selected a device. To go back, select the name of the current device in the center of the toolbar to bring up the Devices list, then make your selection.)
Click Erase iPhone. Since your phone isn't lost, do not enter a phone number or message. If your device is offline, the remote erasure will begin when it returns online. You'll receive an email when the process is complete.
Select Remove from Account once the device is erased. This step will also turn off Activation Lock.This will erase all content from your device, but you can restore an iPhone backup after your device has been repaired or replaced.
Losing your phone is stressful, and hindsight is 20/20. Next time, add a custom message with contact information to your lock screen so you have a better chance of it being returned.
The Asurion® trademarks and logos are the property of Asurion, LLC. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Asurion is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of the respective owners of the other trademarks appearing herein.
To turn off your location without notifying others on an iPhone, you can block and unblock the user in your settings. You can also disable your location with everyone by going to Settings > Apple ID > Find My > toggle off Share My Location.
To turn off your location without notifying others on an iPhone, you can block and unblock the user in your settings. You can also disable your location with everyone by going to Settings > Apple ID > Find My > toggle off Share My Location.
If you can't turn offFind My iPhone on the device, turn offthe device so it goes offline, then remove it from Find My iPhone on iCloud.com. Note: If you have an iOS device, you can also remove your device by first erasing it—just follow the instructions below to remove a device you don't have.
No one is notified if you turn off Location Services, but some features may not work as expected without access to your location. Note: You can also temporarily turn off Find My iPhone in the same tab if you're concerned someone may have access to your iCloud account.
Features like Find My may not work if the phone's operating system is out of date. Open Settings > General > Software Update to see if a new version of iOS is available. Restart your iPhone. A failure in Find My could just be a temporary issue that a restart will solve.
If you have another Apple device with the Find My app
Open the Find My app and locate your iPhone in the list under the Devices tab. As previously mentioned, you should see your iPhone in this list (even if it's powered off) as long as you have the Find My iPhone, Find My Network and Send Last Location options enabled.
Find My automatically turns on when you set up iCloud on your iPhone or iPad, and turning on Find My automatically turns on Activation Lock. With Find My, you can locate and protect your personal device if it's ever lost or stolen.
When someone stops sharing their location with you on their iPhone, you'll receive a “No Location Available” message the next time you attempt to access the Find My app. If you see a “No Location Found” message instead, this has a different meaning.
You'll need to erase everything on your iPhone if you want to turn Find My off remotely. If you just want to disable this feature without erasing anything, you need to do it directly from the phone.
On your iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > Find My. If you're asked to sign in, enter your Apple ID. If you don't have one, tap “Don't have an Apple ID or forgot it?” then follow the instructions. Tap Find My iPhone, then turn on Find My iPhone.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
