How To Find Lost Phone If Find My Iphone Doesnt Work

Apple has fabricated some big improvements to its Find My service ever since it combined Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a unmarried app dorsum in 2019. 1 such add-on is the ability to track downward your iPhone even when it's powered off, which debuted with iOS 15 in September.

This guide will tell you everything y'all need to know well-nigh using Apple'southward Detect My app. But start, make certain yous take a passcode gear up up. That mode if someone does steal your phone, they won't have access to a treasure trove of personal info. Let's besides take a few minutes to make sure the Detect My service is enabled so yous'll take the best gamble of getting your device back.

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Fix a passcode

Some people view using Face ID or Touch on ID every bit an unnecessary step when using an iPhone. Those people are incorrect. Setting a passcode and using your face or fingerprint to protect all of the information on your phone is a vital part of keeping your personal information secure. Just think of all the information on your phone: banking apps, private conversations, the location of your home and function, contacts, emails, photos... the list goes on.

Practice you really desire a random stranger going through all of that?

Secure your device by opening Settings > Face ID (or Touch on ID) & Passcode and follow the prompts. Scanning your finger or letting Face up ID do its magic is a minor inconvenience. And after a few days, the actress step volition become part of your routine and y'all won't fifty-fifty notice.

find-my-settings-iphone — There'southward more just a switch to turn on Find My that you'll desire to pay attending to.
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Brand sure Find My iPhone is enabled

Afterwards setting a passcode, double-check that Detect My is turned on. It should be enabled by default, and you'd have to go out of your way to disable it, only it's always a proficient idea to double-check right now.

On your iPhone, open the Settings app and tap on your name at the top of the screen. Next, tap Discover My > Find My iPhone. Make sure that the switch next to Discover My iPhone is on, and while you're there, brand sure the switches next to Find My network and Send Final Location are on as well.

Every bit a refresher, Apple's Notice My network will crowdsource the location of a device marked equally lost. For example, if you lose your iPhone and mark it equally lost in the Find My app (more on that process in a minute), Apple will use the Find My service on any iPad, iPhone or Mac to locate your iPhone, fifty-fifty if it's not connected to the internet. The device owner won't even know they're helping yous find your lost device. I covered this feature in more item here when it made its debut. In that location'due south no reason to not use the network to aid you, or a consummate stranger, find a lost Apple device.

As for Send Final Location, well, that'south pretty cocky-explanatory. Equally your battery gets depression, it volition automatically send its last location to Observe My in an endeavour to aid y'all recover it if it turns off. You tin even so track your phone afterward information technology shuts down if your device is running iOS 15, but that's only bachelor on newer iPhone models. More on that later.

Have advantage of Family Sharing

Apple tree'due south Family unit Sharing service not only saves you money by letting your entire family install a paid app on multiple devices, merely information technology also integrates with the Find My. With Family Sharing ready, you tin can view the location of all the devices linked to a family member's Apple ID. Significant, y'all tin can inquire a family member to immediately begin looking for your lost iPhone once you realize information technology's missing.

Create good habits

The best manner to go along your phone secure, especially when you're traveling or in unfamiliar areas, is to keep a shut center on information technology and never relax. Be cautious. Overly cautious, fifty-fifty. Don't keep your telephone out in the open where someone tin can catch it and run off. If you practice lose your phone, don't panic! Take a deep breath and call back to use Discover My iPhone.

Recover your lost iPhone: The Notice My app is key

Every single iOS device has Apple'due south Find My service, formerly Find My iPhone, built into its system settings. The app is connected to and managed by your Apple ID. The moment you realize you've lost your phone, the first affair you lot should practise is visit icloud.com/discover on a computer, open the Discover My app on another Apple device you own or have a member of your Family unit Sharing group use the Find My app on one of their Apple devices. Alternatively, you can use the Find My app on some other Apple tree device by signing in with your Apple ID.

If accessing Find My via the website or on someone else'southward device, it'southward important to sign in to the same iCloud account linked to the lost iPhone. After signing in, click the All Devices pick at the top of the screen, then select your phone from the list. The map will refresh, taking you lot to the current location of your phone. If the device has been turned off, the last known location will be shown.

When viewing the device's location, use the card in the top-right corner of the screen to play a sound, turn on Lost Mode or remotely erase your phone. Or in the Find My app, you can roll downwardly to find the same options, with the add-on of turning on notifications for whenever the device is found if it goes offline.

The Find My website makes it easy to track down your lost Apple tree devices.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

Can't find your telephone? Turn on Lost Mode

If yous play a sound on your iPhone and notwithstanding can't find it, turn on Lost Mode. If you lot already have a passcode to lock your device (you do, right?), that will be required to unlock your device and plough off Lost Mode. If you don't have one set, you'll have to create one. You lot'll also be asked to enter a phone number and a message that will be displayed on the lock screen asking whoever has your device to get it back to y'all.

When enabled, Lost Mode will lock the device, prevent notifications and messages from showing up on your lock screen, and continue tracking the telephone'south location. The phone will still ring for incoming phone and FaceTime calls. This should help you rail downward the phone if information technology'south nearby. Or maybe you'll be lucky and the person who has the telephone will answer it to help get it back to you.

Any credit and debit cards added to Apple Pay, along with student IDs and transit cards stored in the Wallet app, will be disabled until you regain access to the phone and log in to your iCloud account.

If the phone is turned off and Lost Mode is enabled, yous'll receive an alert when the phone is turned dorsum on, including its current location.

When you recover your phone, you lot'll need to enter your passcode, or the passcode you created when enabling Lost Mode. Then sign in to your iCloud account to regain admission to all of your Apple services like Apple Pay.

lost-mode-iphone-xr — What an iPhone looks like when Lost Style is enabled.
Jason Cipriani/CNET

Discover your lost or stolen iPhone even when it'south turned off

Apple's iOS xv update brings a big improvement to Find My that makes it possible to locate your lost iPhone even when the device has been turned off or the battery has died. This feature works automatically so long as you take the Notice My network enabled on your iPhone. That means your iPhone's location will remain visible in Find My on your other devices and to people in your Family Sharing group regardless of whether the phone is powered on.

Even so, this feature is only available on iPhones in the iPhone 11, 12 or 13 series.

Here'south a refresher on how to turn on the Find My network: Open the Settings menu on your iPhone and tap the box with your name and photo. So, press Detect My and choose Find My iPhone. From there, make sure the option for Find My network is toggled on.

When this capability is activated, you'll also see an warning when powering downwards your iPhone that says, "iPhone Findable Afterward Power Off." Tapping that notification will pull up an information box that provides more item.

ios-15-find-my-setting — In iOS 15, you can locate your lost iPhone in Find My fifty-fifty when your device is turned off.
Screenshot past Lisa Eadicicco/CNET

Whatever you practice, don't confront a thief

If you're able to track your telephone to a house or flat building, don't confront the potential thief on your own. Phone call the cops and ask for their help. Sure, you want to get your telephone back, merely getting into a confrontation and potentially getting hurt isn't ideal.

Contact your local police and let them handle it.

Contact your carrier

If you're unable to become your telephone back, contact your carrier and explain that your phone has been lost or stolen. The carrier will flag your device's International Mobile Equipment Identity number and, in most cases, will prevent that number from working on the network, rendering the device useless to whoever has it.

Keep in heed that if you have your service suspended you'll reduce the odds of tracking the phone unless information technology's connected to a known Wi-Fi network or another fellow member of the Discover My network happens to exist nearby. Suspending service is something you lot should but practise after you're sure you lot can't recover the phone.

File an insurance claim

applecare-claim — AppleCare Plus merits folio for a lost iPhone.
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

If you have AppleCare Plus with Theft and Loss or pay monthly for device insurance through your carrier, start the claim process as shortly as possible. You'll need to fill out some paperwork and pay a deductible in order to get a replacement device.

To begin the process for a telephone that has AppleCare Plus with Theft and Loss covered, use this website. Filing a merits will erase your iPhone and foreclose anyone else from being able to utilise it. Should you lot find your phone after filing a claim, you can cancel information technology. But you'll need to set upwardly your iPhone as new.

Contact your carrier directly to begin the claim process.

After recovering your lost iPhone, take a few minutes to alter these fifteen settings. If you're still getting used to iOS 15cheque out some of these new features.