How to turn your location off on find my iphone

With Apple's Find My app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, you can track the location of a lost phone, find missing luggage with an AirTag, or keep tabs on close friends and family members (with permission). We recommend you keep it on for those reasons, but there are times when you'll need to shut it off.

Perhaps you're selling your device and need to disconnect it from your Apple ID before wiping it. Maybe you just want to purge your device of the services (and people) who can track your location. Whatever the reason, you can shut down the Find My app in a few easy steps.

Turn Off Find My Services

If you need to quickly shut everything down, including location and device tracking, head to Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone. Tap the switch next to Find My iPhone, then enter your Apple ID password to disable the service. For iPad users, the instructions are the same but the options will say Find My iPad instead.

You should notice two other options on this screen. Find My network, which will allow your device to be tracked even when it's offline. Send Last Location will automatically send your location when the battery is low. If you don't want to turn everything off, you can instead turn one or both of these options off to minimize when your location is tracked.

Remove Individual Devices

There are several ways to remove a specific device from the Find My app. On mobile, open Settings and tap your name. Scroll down to view the different devices, select the one you wish to remove, then select Remove from Account to disconnect it from your Apple ID. You can also remove devices from the Find My app under the Devices tab. Tap a device and select Remove This Device from the pop-up menu to disconnect it from your account.

Another way to do this is from the iCloud website(Opens in a new window), where you select Find iPhone, click your name in the right-hand corner and choose Account Settings. Select the device from the My Devices section and click Remove.

Mac users who have Find My set up can go to System Preferences > Apple ID and click Options next to Find My Mac. You can then turn off Find My Mac and Find My network.

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Turn Off Location Sharing

If you want some privacy, there are a few ways to stop sharing your location with other users. You can also choose to stop sharing it with everyone or just specific people. The easiest way is to open the Find My app and select the Me tab. Turn off Share My Location to prevent people from knowing where you are.

For individual people, open the People tab and select a specific contact. You can then choose Stop Sharing My Location to hide yourself from them, or choose Remove Friend to delete them completely.

If you're on a Mac, you can turn off location tracking under System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Location Services. Click the lock icon to make changes, enter your user password, and then uncheck the box next to Find My. Click the lock again to save the change.

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Apple holds privacy and security as two of its core values and it has detailed resources on how to protect your devices, accounts, and personal safety. Follow along for a look at the recommended steps to check who can see your iPhone location including how to make sure no one can track you.

Apple has a 20-page support guide called “Device and Data Access When Personal Safety is at Risk.” Whether you’ve got personal safety concerns or it’s just time for a privacy and security checkup, the steps below are useful.

Let’s dig into how to check who can see your iPhone location, how to adjust location settings, and more.

Who can see your iPhone location? How to make sure no one can track you

Update summer 2022:With iOS 16, Apple has an additional privacy feature called Safety Check that immediately stops sharing your iPhone location, read all about it in our full coverage.

Here’s what Apple advises:

Turning Location Services off completely

• If you need to turn off all possible Location Services and tracking (temporarily or permanently), head to Settings > Privacy (Privacy & Security in iOS 16)
• Tap Location Services at the top
• Toggle the switch off next to Location Services, confirm by choosing Turn Off
• Keep in mind some services won’t be able to work with Location Services turned off
• Apple highlights when turning this switch off that “Location Services will be disabled for all apps, but your personalized Location Services will be temporarily restored if you use Find My iPhone to enable Lost Mode.”

What apps can see your iPhone location?

• In the same Settings section (Settings > Privacy > Location Services) look further down
  • Remember you’ll need the main Location Services toggle to be turned on
• You’ll see a list of apps (Apple apps and third-party ones)
• Tap one to manage individual Location Services
  • You’ll get the option to allow location access “Never,” “Ask Next Time,” “While Using the App,” or “Always”
  • Additionally, you can toggle off “Precise Location” if you want to give an app location permission but don’t want it to be specific

When you see the Location Services icons in the status bar of your iPhone, or in the settings we walked through above, here’s what they mean:

Managing Location Services with Find My

• In Settings > Privacy > Location Services tap Share My Location
• You can now toggle off the button next to “Share My Location” which will prevent the family and friends you see below from seeing where you are
• You can also manage how Find My iPhone works by tapping Find My iPhone

Who can see your iPhone location with Find My?

• Head to the Find My app
• Tap a person from the list at the bottom
• Swipe to the bottom of the info card
• Choose Stop Sharing My Location
• Alternatively, you can do the same from Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Share My Location> Family/Friends

Who can see your iPhone location in third-party apps?

• If you’re sharing your location with others in third-party apps, that won’t show up in your main iOS settings
• Head back to Settings > Privacy > Location Services to look at what apps have location access
• If you’re unsure if an app has access you can turn them all back to “Ask Next Time” or “Never”
  • Common third-party apps that will have location access to your iPhone include, Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram, other social media apps, Uber/Lyft, other travel, fitness, shopping apps (keep in mind even unsuspecting apps could have or ask for location access)

Going further with protecting your Apple devices

• How to check who can access your iPhone, iPad, and Apple accounts
• How to check iOS app privacy details for iPhone and iPad

Additionally, you can read Apple’s full 20-page guide on device and data privacy here.

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About the Author

Michael Potuck

@michaelpotuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.

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