Find My iPhone is a web app and service on your iDevices and Macs that helps you locate and protect your Apple device if it’s ever lost or stolen. Find My iPhone is also available on iCloud’s website. Use the iCloud website’s service to locate and remotely send a message, play a sound, lock or erase your iOS devices and Macs.
Find My iPhone may already be turned on if you already set up an iCloud account (see this article for more info). Once you set Find My iPhone up, if your device ever goes missing, you can use Find My iPhone to help you get it back!
When you set up Find My iPhone, your paired Apple Watch and AirPods are automatically set up too so you can find them as well!
And if you have Family Sharing set up, you can turn on Lost Mode for family members’ devices, too!
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How to set up Find My iPhone (or Find My iPad or Find My iPod)
Set up Find My iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, AirPods Using an iDevice
- Tap Settings >Apple ID Profile > iCloud
- For Folks using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Find My iPhone icon
- Toggle on both Find My iPhone and Send the Last Location
How to set up Find My iPhone For Your Mac
- Tap the Apple Menu
- Click System Preferences > iCloud
- Check the box to turn on Find My Mac
- If you see a Details button next to Find My Mac, click Details > Open Security & Privacy > Enable Location Services
- If Enable Location Services is dimmed in Security & Privacy preferences, click the lock icon and enter the name and password of the computer administrator.
Use Find My iPhone to Locate Your Device (AirPods, Apple Watch, Mac, iPod, iPad or iPhone)
- Sign in to iCloud’s Website on a Mac or PC, or use the Find My iPhone app on another iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
- Find your device
- Open Find My iPhone and select a device to view its location on a map
- If the device is nearby, you can have it play a sound to help you or someone nearby to find it
- Open Find My iPhone and select a device to view its location on a map
When You Cannot Locate Your Device, Turn on Lost Mode
- Click All Devices, then select the device you want to put into Lost Mode or lock
- With Apple Watch, you must have watchOS 3 or later installed to use Lost Mode
- You can lock a Mac or an iOS 5 device, but you can’t track it
- Click Lost Mode or Lock
- If you’re trying to place a family member’s iOS device in Lost Mode, and the device doesn’t have a passcode set, that person’s Apple ID password must be entered
- If you’re trying to lock a family member’s Mac, that person’s Apple ID password must be entered
- When you use Lost Mode, tracking begins, and you see your device’s current location, as well as any changes in its position on the map
- If your device is online when you put it in Lost Mode or lock it, it locks, and tracking begins. If Location Services is turned off on the device, it’s temporarily turned on to track your device’s location. A confirmation email is sent to your Apple ID email address
- If your device is offline, the passcode lock and tracking take effect the next time it’s online
- You can display a custom message on the screen such as your device is lost and information on how to contact you
- If you’re asked to enter a phone number, enter a number where you can be reached
- If you’re asked to enter a message, you may want to indicate that the device is lost or how to contact you. The number and message appear on the device’s Lock screen
- In the lost mode, your device doesn’t display alerts or play a sound when you receive messages or notifications, or if any alarms go off. But your device can still receive phone calls and FaceTime calls