How to share your location with family on iPhone

Sharing your location with family on iPhone gives everyone peace of mind. Your spouse, children, or grandchildren can see where you are on a map, which helps when you are traveling, going to appointments, or running errands. The Find My app is built into every iPhone. And it lets you choose who can see your location and for how long. You stay in full control. You can stop sharing at any time.

This guide walks you through turning on location sharing, adding a family member, and choosing how long to share. The whole process takes about three minutes. You will need your iPhone unlocked, an internet connection, and the phone number or Apple ID email of the person you want to share with.

Why this matters: if you ever fall, get lost, or have car trouble, family can find you fast. It also saves you the trouble of texting your address when you arrive somewhere. Once it is set up, it works in the background.

A quick note on privacy: only the people you pick can see your location. Apple does not share it with anyone else. You will see a small arrow icon at the top of your screen now and then, which means an app checked your location. That is normal.

If you ever want to stop, open the Find My app, tap the person's name, and tap Stop Sharing My Location. You can also pause sharing for one hour, until the end of the day, or forever. The choice is yours.

Follow the steps below in order. If you get stuck, ask the family member you are sharing with to try the same steps on their phone so you can compare.