With the goldfish memory I have, I leave my iPhone in the strangest places and forget where I last saw it. I pulled my phone out of the kitchen cabinets, the inside drawers of the dressing table and the closet. Luckily, I’ve never had it stolen, but I’d like to be prepared for that too.
Whether your phone is lost at home or on a park bench, the Find My app—formerly known as Find My iPhone—is a reliable way to track it down. It also allows you to track your AirPods.
How to find your iPhone on Apple device
You can quickly track your iPhone on your iPad, Mac, or a family member’s iPhone. The first step is yes open the Find My app. After opening the app, you will see Devices in the bottom bar. Click on Devices and look for your iPhone in the list. Once you see it, tap it to see its location on the map. In addition to the map, there is also a Play Sound feature that you can select that your iPhone rings and helps you hunt. I love this feature and find it very useful when my phone is hiding on a shelf in my closet.
Note that in order for your device to appear in a family member’s Find My app, you must either belong to a family sharing group or share your location with them. You might want to do that if you’re reading this before it’s too late.
For your iPhone to appear on your iPad or Mac, you must be signed in to the same Apple ID you use on your iPhone. It’s a good idea to make sure you share and sign in to the same ID on all your Apple devices.
How to use Find your iPhone on a non-Apple device
If you don’t have another Apple device at home, you can type iCloud.com/find on a web browser on any device to track your iPhone. when you are there sign in to your Apple ID and follow the same steps as above. Go to Devices to find your iPhone in the list of all devices on that ID. And then select it to see its location on the map.
What if I can’t see my iPhone’s location?
Unfortunately, you won’t always be able to see where your iPhone is in real time. Someone who stole your phone may have turned it off, so its location isn’t constantly updating.
If that’s the case, you’ll only be able to see its last known location before it was turned off. If this continues for seven days, Find My even removes your iPhone’s last known location and replaces it with “Location not found.” If it says “Does not share location • Online”, your phone is in a dead zone and cannot receive location services.
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