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    Set Up Find My to Locate a Lost iPhone

    Set up the Find My feature on your iPhone so you can track it on a map, lock it, or erase it if it ever gets lost or stolen.

    4 min read · 6 steps · Checked May 2026

    1. Step 1. Open Settings on your iPhone

      Tap the Settings app — it looks like a gray gear icon. You will find it on your home screen or in your app library.

    2. Step 2. Tap your name at the top of Settings

      At the very top of the Settings menu, you will see your name and, below it, your Apple Account email address. Tap your name to open your Apple Account settings.

      Quick Tip

      If you are not signed in to an Apple Account, you will see a prompt to sign in. You need an Apple Account for Find My to work. Creating one is free at appleid.apple.com.

    3. Step 3. Tap Find My

      In your Apple Account settings, scroll down until you see Find My. Tap it to open the Find My settings page.

    4. Step 4. Tap Find My iPhone and turn it on

      Tap Find My iPhone on the next screen. Make sure the toggle at the top is turned on — it should be green. If it is gray, tap it once to turn it on.

    5. Step 5. Turn on Send Last Location

      On the same screen, you will see an option called Send Last Location. Turn this on as well. When your battery is critically low, your phone will automatically send its last known location to Apple — which can be very helpful if your phone runs out of battery before you find it.

    6. Step 6. Test it from iCloud.com

      On a computer or another phone, go to icloud.com and sign in with your Apple Account. Click Find Devices. You should see your iPhone appear on a map. This confirms that Find My is working correctly.

      Quick Tip

      You can also use the free Find My app on any other iPhone, iPad, or Mac where you are signed in with the same Apple Account.

    Losing your iPhone can be a stressful experience, but Apple's Find My feature gives you a real chance of getting it back. Once set up, Find My lets you see your phone's location on a map, play a sound to help you find it nearby, lock it with a message for whoever finds it, or erase everything on it remotely if necessary.

    The good news is that setting up Find My takes only a few minutes, and once it is turned on, it works automatically in the background.

    What Find My does

    Find My is a free Apple service that connects your iPhone to your Apple Account (formerly called Apple ID). When you sign in to your Apple Account on your iPhone, Find My can use the phone's GPS to report its location to Apple's servers. You can then log in from any web browser at icloud.com or use the Find My app on another Apple device to see where your phone is.

    Find My also works even when your iPhone is offline, thanks to a feature called the Find My network. Hundreds of millions of Apple devices quietly and anonymously relay location signals, so your phone can often be found even without a cellular or Wi-Fi connection.

    Before you start

    You will need an Apple Account to use Find My. If you already have one — you use it for the App Store, iCloud email, or FaceTime — you are ready to go. If you do not have one yet, you can create one for free at appleid.apple.com.

    Turning on Find My

    Open the Settings app on your iPhone. At the very top, tap your name (this is your Apple Account area). Then tap Find My. On the next screen, tap Find My iPhone and make sure the main toggle at the top is turned on (green). You should also turn on Send Last Location, which automatically saves your phone's last known position to Apple when the battery is about to die.

    How to find your phone if it goes missing

    If your phone goes missing, go to icloud.com/find on any computer or phone, sign in with your Apple Account, and click Find Devices. You will see your iPhone on a map. From there you can play a sound, put it in Lost Mode (which locks the phone and displays your contact information), or erase it entirely.

    Quick Tip: Find My also works for your iPad, Mac, AirPods, and Apple Watch — all from the same Find My app or iCloud website.

    Official sources

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