How to turn on and off Find My iPhone

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:

1. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My iPhone
2. Tap the switch to turn it on or off.
3. 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.

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How to turn off Find My iPhone

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:

1. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My [Device].
2. Tap to turn it on or off.
3. Enter your Apple ID, then tap Turn Off.
4. 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 also turn off Find My by removing it at iCloud.com. Your phone 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:

1. Turn off your phone.
2. Go to iCloud.com/find on your computer and enter your Apple ID and password.
3. 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.)
4. 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.
5. 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.