About Find My
Summary Background
Find My iPhone is a convenient feature to help locate a user's device.
When to Use Find My
It is recommended to always have this feature turned on in case of theft or simply misplacement of the device(s).
When to Turn off Find My
Upon selling the device or trading in the device, Find My must be turned off so the device is no longer tracked by the original owner. SImilarly, if a user is buying a used device, the buyer should always make sure Find My is off prior to completing the transaction. This will be an indicator of true ownership of the phone or device as well as protecting the buyer's privacy.
Step-by-Step Guide to Turn off Find My iPhone
Before We Start
- Do you have active network connection? Either internet Wi-Fi connection or cellular data connection would work.
- Do you know your Apple ID Password? If not, retrieve or reset the password before beginning.
Step 1
Open the Settings application on your iPhone.
Step 2
Tap [Your Name] with Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store at the top of the screen.
Step 3
Tap Find My.
Step 4
Tap Find My iPhone. No further actions needed if Find My iPhone already shows as Off on this screen.
Step 5
Tap on the green toggle next to Find My iPhone. Green indicates the feature is on, and grey indicates the feature is off.
Step 6
Enter your Apple ID Password in the Password field, and tap Turn Off on the top right of the screen. If you have trouble proceeding with the correct password, tap on Forgot Password? to reset your current password, then return to this step.
Step 7
Wait a few seconds while your account information is validated and your request is processed.
Step 8
Once complete, the screen will return to the Find My iPhone page (from Step 5 above), and now the toggle should be turned off as shown in screenshot here. A green toggle indicates the feature is on, and a grey toggle indicates the feature is off. Once you received confirmation this toggle is off as shown, you have successfully turned off Find My iPhone and can exit the Settings application.
This step-by-step process describes how to to turn off the Find My feature on an iPhone. Similarly, the same steps can be performed on an iPad instead of an iPhone with a small change in terms (from iPhone to iPad).