How to Turn Off Find My iPhone
Learn how to turn off Find My iPhone from Settings, iCloud.com, or another Apple device. Covers Activation Lock removal, selling prep, and forgotten passwords.
We tried to trade in an old iPhone once and got turned away because Find My was still on. The store could not accept it with Activation Lock active, and we had to go home, dig up our Apple ID password, and come back the next day.
Find My iPhone is one of those features that works quietly in the background until you need to turn it off, and then suddenly it feels like Apple made it intentionally hard to disable. It is not actually hard. It just requires your Apple ID password, which is the part most people get stuck on.
This guide covers every way to turn off Find My iPhone, whether you still have the phone or not, plus what to do when you cannot remember your password.
Turn off Find My iPhone from Settings
This is the fastest way and the one you will use in most situations. You need the iPhone in your hands and your Apple ID password. Open Settings and tap your name at the top of the screen. Tap Find My, then tap Find My iPhone. Toggle Find My iPhone off. Your iPhone asks for your Apple ID password. Type it in and tap Turn Off. That is it. Find My iPhone is now disabled and Activation Lock is automatically removed from the device. You will also see toggles for Find My network and Send Last Location on the same screen. Find My network lets your iPhone be located even when it is offline by pinging nearby Apple devices. Send Last Location automatically sends Apple your iPhone's location when the battery gets critically low. Both of these turn off automatically when you disable Find My iPhone.
Remove your iPhone from iCloud.com
If you no longer have the iPhone, you can remove it from your account remotely. This is common when you have already given the phone away or sold it and forgot to turn off Find My first. Go to icloud.com/find on any browser and sign in with your Apple ID. Select the iPhone you want to remove from the device list. If the device is still online, you need to erase it first by clicking Erase iPhone. Once the erase is complete (or if the device is already offline), click Remove This Device. Removing the device from your account disables Activation Lock immediately. The new owner can now set up the iPhone with their own Apple ID without being blocked. You will receive a confirmation email from Apple when the device is removed from your account.
Remove your iPhone using the Find My app on another Apple device
If you have an iPad, Mac, or another iPhone signed into the same Apple ID, you can use the Find My app instead of going through a browser. Open the Find My app and tap the Devices tab at the bottom. Select the iPhone you want to remove. Scroll down and tap Erase This Device if the phone is still active, then tap Remove This Device after the erase completes. If the iPhone is already offline or has been erased, you will see the Remove This Device option right away. Tap it and confirm. This does the same thing as the iCloud.com method. It removes the device from your Apple ID and turns off Activation Lock so someone else can use the phone.
Turn off Find My before selling or trading in your iPhone
Turning off Find My is just one part of preparing your iPhone for a new owner. If you skip any of the other steps, the new owner may end up with your data or you may lose access to your own accounts. Here is the full checklist in order. First, back up your iPhone to iCloud or your computer so you do not lose anything. Second, unpair your Apple Watch if you have one connected. Third, sign out of your Apple ID by going to Settings > [your name] > Sign Out. Signing out automatically turns off Find My and removes Activation Lock, so you do not need to do that step separately. Fourth, erase the phone by going to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. Apple has a detailed walkthrough for preparing your iPhone before selling that covers every step including what to do with your SIM card and carrier account.
Heads up: Every trade-in program and carrier buyback requires Find My to be turned off and Activation Lock to be removed before they accept the device. If you forget this step, the trade-in will be rejected.
Handle a forgotten Apple ID password
You cannot turn off Find My without your Apple ID password. There is no workaround for this, and that is by design. Activation Lock exists specifically to prevent someone who does not know the password from disabling Find My on a stolen phone. If you own the device but forgot your password, go to iforgot.apple.com on any browser. Enter your Apple ID email address and follow the steps to reset your password. Depending on your account settings, Apple may send a reset link to your email, ask you security questions, or walk you through two-factor authentication on a trusted device. Once your password is reset, go back to Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone and turn it off using the new password. If you bought a used iPhone and it is locked to someone else's Apple ID, you need the previous owner to remove the device from their account remotely through iCloud.com. Apple Support can sometimes help with proof of purchase, but they will not bypass Activation Lock without documentation.
Good to know: Before buying a used iPhone, always ask the seller to show you that Find My is turned off. Go to Settings > [your name] > Find My and confirm the toggle is off. If the phone shows an Activation Lock screen during setup, do not complete the purchase.
Turning off Find My takes about thirty seconds if you have your Apple ID password ready. The bigger mistake most people make is forgetting to do it entirely before handing off the phone, which is how you end up with an angry buyer and an awkward iCloud.com session later. Find My is also what powers location sharing on your iPhone. If you use that feature regularly, our guide on how to share location on iPhone covers all the ways to share and stop sharing your location with specific people. And if an app has gone missing from your Home Screen, our guide on how to unhide apps on iPhone covers every way apps can disappear and how to bring them back.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
No. Turning off Find My iPhone only disables the tracking and Activation Lock features. Your photos, apps, messages, and all other data stay exactly where they are. Erasing the phone is a separate step that you do through Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings. If you are selling the phone, you should erase it after turning off Find My, but turning off Find My alone does not delete anything.
Not without your Apple ID password. Even if someone knows your iPhone passcode and can get into the device, turning off Find My requires your Apple ID password as a separate step. This is intentional. It means a thief who guesses or watches you type your phone passcode still cannot disable the tracking feature. The only way to remove Find My without the password is through Apple Support with proof of ownership.
Not on its own. When you erase through Settings, iOS asks for your Apple ID password during the process, and entering it signs you out and removes Activation Lock as part of the erase. But if you erase through recovery mode or a connected computer without entering the password, Activation Lock stays active. The phone will show the Activation Lock screen on restart and require your Apple ID credentials before anyone can use it. The safest approach is to sign out of your Apple ID first, then erase.
Yes. Go to Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone and toggle it back on. You may be asked for your Apple ID password again. Activation Lock reactivates as soon as Find My is turned back on. There is no limit to how many times you can turn it on and off.
It depends on the repair. Apple and authorized service providers will ask you to turn off Find My before most repairs, especially anything involving the logic board or a full device replacement. Screen repairs and battery replacements usually do not require it. If you are mailing your iPhone in for repair, Apple will tell you during the service request process whether Find My needs to be off. It is a good idea to turn it off before bringing the phone in to avoid delays.
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