To turn off Find My iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, tap Find My, tap Find My iPhone, and turn off the Find My iPhone switch. Enter your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off. If the switch won’t move, turn off Stolen Device Protection first.
These steps are for iOS 18 and iOS 26 on any iPhone and follow Apple’s guide to turning off Find My. Turning off Find My also removes Activation Lock, the lock that stops anyone else from setting up your iPhone with their own account. That’s why Apple asks you to turn it off before you sell, trade in, or send an iPhone for repair.
If your iPhone is lost or stolen, don’t turn off Find My or remove the phone from your account. Keep it in Find My and turn on Lost Mode, as described in Apple’s lost or stolen iPhone guidance. Removing it unlocks the phone for whoever has it.
Before You Start
- Know your Apple Account password. The iPhone passcode won’t work here. If you’ve forgotten the password, reset it first through Apple’s password reset steps.
- Check for Stolen Device Protection. If it’s on, Find My is locked on. The next section shows how to turn it off.
- Decide what you’re trying to stop. If you just don’t want friends or family to see where you are, you don’t need to turn off Find My iPhone. The Stop Sharing Your Location Instead section below covers that.
Turn Off Find My on Your iPhone
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap your name at the top of the screen.
- Tap Find My.
- Tap Find My iPhone. The next screen shows the Find My iPhone switch along with Find My network and Send Last Location.
- Turn off the Find My iPhone switch.
- Enter your Apple Account password when asked, then tap Turn Off.
The switch turns gray, and the Find My screen shows Find My iPhone as Off. Your iPhone no longer appears in the Find My app or at icloud.com/find, and Activation Lock is removed. You may also get an email from Apple confirming that Find My was turned off.
Signing out of your Apple Account in Settings also turns off Find My on that iPhone. If you’re preparing the phone for a new owner, that’s often the simpler route, and our guide to signing out of your Apple Account on iPhone walks through it.
Can’t Turn It Off? Turn Off Stolen Device Protection
Apple says Find My must stay on while Stolen Device Protection is enabled. On many iPhones it’s on by default.
- Open Settings and tap Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode on an iPhone with a Home button).
- Enter your passcode.
- Tap Stolen Device Protection and turn it off.
If you’re at home or another place your iPhone recognizes as familiar, the change happens right away after Face ID or Touch ID. Somewhere unfamiliar, a Security Delay starts: you confirm with Face ID or Touch ID, wait one hour, then confirm again before the setting turns off. If Require Security Delay is set to Always, the hour-long wait applies everywhere.
Once Stolen Device Protection is off, go back to Settings > your name > Find My > Find My iPhone and turn the switch off.
Other Reasons the Switch Is Grayed Out
- Screen Time restrictions. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and make sure Account Changes is set to Allow.
- A work or school iPhone. If your iPhone is managed by an organization, the administrator may have locked Find My. Ask your IT team.
- The password is rejected. Make sure you’re entering the password for the Apple Account shown at the top of Settings, not your passcode or a different account’s password.
Turn Off Find My for an iPhone You No Longer Have
If you already sold or gave away the iPhone without turning off Find My, you can remove it from your account on the web. Only do this for a phone you handed over on purpose.
- Go to icloud.com/find and sign in with the Apple Account the iPhone used.
- Select the iPhone in the device list. Select All Devices at the top if you need to return to the list.
- Select Erase This Device and follow the prompts. Don’t enter a phone number or message, since the phone isn’t lost. If the iPhone is offline, the erase starts the next time it connects, and Apple emails you when it’s done.
- After the erase finishes, select Remove This Device. Activation Lock is removed and the new owner can set up the phone.
If you select Remove This Device while the iPhone is online and not erased, it isn’t removed. Instead, it’s marked Ready for Repair or Trade In for 30 days. Apple’s Remove a device steps explain both outcomes.
Before You Sell or Trade In Your iPhone
Turning off Find My is one step in handing over an iPhone. In order:
- Back up the iPhone to iCloud or your computer.
- Turn off Stolen Device Protection, then turn off Find My using the steps above.
- Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone and tap Erase All Content and Settings. This also signs you out of your Apple Account.
Our guide to factory resetting an iPhone covers the erase step in more detail. A paired Apple Watch and AirPods are handled separately: unpair the watch from the iPhone, and remove AirPods from your device list, before giving them away.
Stop Sharing Your Location Instead
Find My iPhone, which locates your device, and location sharing, which shows people where you are, are separate settings. To stop sharing without losing the ability to find a lost phone:
- Stop sharing with one person: open the Find My app, tap People, tap the person, and tap Stop Sharing My Location.
- Stop sharing with everyone: in the Find My app, tap Me and turn off Share My Location.
Apple’s location sharing guide covers these options, and our guide to sharing your location on iPhone explains how to turn it back on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does turning off Find My delete anything on my iPhone?
No. Your photos, messages, and apps stay on the phone. It only stops the iPhone from being located and removes Activation Lock.
Can I turn off Find My without the Apple Account password?
No. Apple requires the password so a thief can’t disable tracking. If you forgot it, reset the password first, then turn off Find My.
Can I turn off Find My iPhone from a computer?
You can remove an iPhone from your account at icloud.com/find, but that’s meant for a phone you’ve given away and works best after you erase it. For a phone you still have, use the Settings steps on the iPhone itself.
Do the same steps work on an iPad?
Yes. On an iPad, go to Settings > your name > Find My > Find My iPad and turn the switch off, then enter your password.
How do I turn Find My back on?
Go to Settings > your name > Find My > Find My iPhone and turn the switch back on. Leave Find My network on so the phone can be found while offline, and turn on Send Last Location so the iPhone reports where it is when the battery runs low. Here’s how the Send Last Location option works.
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are checked step by step against the device or app maker’s own documentation and tested on his own devices whenever he has the hardware or software, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.
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