How to Set Up Find My iPhone on iPhone

This article explains how to set up Find My (or its predecessor Find My iPhone) on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch using iOS (or iPadOS) 13 or newer.

Turn on Find My 

The option to set up Find My is part of the initial iPhone setup process. You may have enabled it then. If you didn't, follow these steps to turn it on.

1. Go to Settings.

2. Tap your name.

3. Tap Find My. (In earlier versions of iOS, tap iCloud > Find My Phone to turn on the feature.)

4. If you want to let friends and family members know where you are, turn on Share My Location in the Find My screen. This optional setting is not required to locate your phone.

5. Tap Find My iPhone at the top of the screen.

6. Turn on the Find My iPhone toggle switch.

7. Turn on the Find My network switch to see your phone even when it's offline. This setting is optional and not required for locating the device.

   Find My network is an encrypted and anonymous network of Apple devices that help locate your device.

8. Turn on Send Last Location to have the phone send its location to Apple when the battery is low. This setting is also optional.

Depending on the version of iOS, you may see a message verifying that you understand that this tool turns on GPS tracking of your iPhone. The GPS tracking is for you to use, not for someone else to track your movements. Tap Allow.

How to Use Find My

When your iPhone or other iOS device goes missing, either because it was misplaced or stolen, use Find My with iCloud to locate it.

1. Open a web browser, go to iCloud.com, and log in with your Apple ID, which is also your iCloud account ID.

2. Select Find iPhone. You may be asked to provide your password again.

3. iCloud locates your iPhone and other devices that you set up with Find My and displays these devices on a map. A green dot indicates the device is online. A gray dot means it's offline.

   All iOS devices support Find My, along with Mac computers and the Apple Watch. AirPods can be located if they are paired with and near an iOS device.

4. Select All Devices and choose the missing iPhone to show it on the map.

5. Choose one of these options:

   • Play Sound: If you suspect your iPhone is nearby, select Play Sound and follow the sound to the iPhone.
   • Lost Mode: Locks and tracks your iPhone.
   • Erase iPhone: Remotely erases your personal information on the iPhone.

Turn Off Find My on Your iPhone

To turn off Find My iPhone, tap Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone and turn off Find My iPhone.

In some earlier versions of Find My iPhone, you may need to enter the password for the iCloud account used on the device. This feature, called Activation Lock, prevents thieves from turning off Find My iPhone to hide the device from the service.

What Is Find My?

Find My is a tool that finds lost or stolen iPhones. It uses the built-in GPS or location services of the device to locate it on a map. It locks a device or deletes all data from a device over the internet to prevent a thief from accessing your data. If your device is lost, use Find My to make the device play a sound. Listen for the dinging sound to locate the device.