When (And Why) You Should Turn Off Find My iPhone

Apple's Find My service is a useful feature that makes it easy to see where your Apple devices are at a glance. It works with devices including iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watch, AirPods, and AirTags, and it's also where you go to see the location of people with whom you're sharing your location on your iPhone, or who are sharing theirs with you. Find My can also prove helpful if you've misplaced one of your devices, or if it's been stolen. By and large, it's a feature we recommend turning on, but there are some times when you should turn off Find My on your iPhone or on other Apple devices.

The first, and most common, is when you're getting rid of a device, whether you're trading it in, giving it away, or selling it. If you don't turn off Find My, the new owner won't be able to register the device, even if they factory reset it. Not only does disabling it let the new owner link the device to their own Apple ID (and turn on Find My), but it ensures they can't track you or your devices. The second reason to turn it off is if you're getting your device repaired.

Factory resetting your device is the easiest way to turn off Find My. But if you don't want to reset it, as in the case of repairs, you can do so manually. Just go to Settings, tap on your name, then go to Find My. (Note: This won't work if you have Stolen Device Protection enabled.)

Find My doesn't just let you track down a misplaced or stolen device. It can also be used to lock down your device and protect the information on it, or remotely erase its content if you think it's gone for good. This works because even with your phone, tablet, or computer turned off, if Find My is enabled during setup, the device retains some power and continues to connect with the network using Bluetooth. 

But how does Find My work to begin with? Apple explains, "The Find My network is a crowdsourced network of over a billion Apple devices that use Bluetooth technology to detect the location of an accessory or device, and report their approximate location back to the owner. It's all anonymous and encrypted to protect everyone's privacy."

That's how AirTags are able to offer such precise location tracking, or work even when they're miles away from you. It's also why Apple has put privacy protections in place to alert you to the presence of an AirTag moving with you if it's not registered to your devices, and turn off tracking.