Configure the location of your device to find it more easily if you have misplaced it … or if it has been stolen.
Before being free and available on all iOS devices, the Find My iPhone feature was, until the arrival of iOS 4.2 in 2010, a paid option. It was an integral part of the MobileMe service, the ancestor of iCloud, which was billed at the time nearly 80 euros per year.
Since then, Find My iPhone has come a long way. The functionality, natively integrated into all Apple devices, can be used free of charge by all and allows, in addition to locating the device, making it ring or erasing all data remotely.
To never be caught off guard again and to quickly adopt the right actions, here is a quick summary to learn how to configure and use Find my iPhone.
1. Activate Find My iPhone on your device
If the feature is not already enabled on your iPhone, open Settings, enter your Apple ID settings, then go to the Find My menu.
Enter Find My and make sure the Find my iPhone, Turn on offline location and Send last location options are enabled.
2. Find a lost or stolen iPhone
Since iOS 13, the way the Find My app works has changed. While it was previously possible to sign in to any iCloud account from the app to locate someone else’s device, it can now only be used to locate your own devices.
To locate an iPhone from a loved one’s iOS device, open Find My and go to the Me tab. Extend the flap by sliding it upwards and then tap Help a friend.
The Find My mobile web page should automatically open in the device’s web browser.
If you need to locate an Apple device from an Android smartphone or computer, open your web browser, and go directly to the Locate page accessible at https://www.icloud.com/find.
Locate an iPhone or iPad online (Free)
Do not try to log in directly to https://www.icloud.com. If you did, you would be faced with a two-factor authentication window sending an authorization code to the lost device.
Once connected, the geographic position of your device, modeled by a green dot, should instantly appear on the map.
3. Ring your iPhone remotely
If you think you have misplaced your device in your home, you can ring it remotely to help you find it. From the iCloud interface, open the All my devices menu and click on your iPhone.
In the pop-up that appears, click on Ring. A ringtone should sound instantly on your device, provided it is not silent.
4. Lock your iPhone
In the event that your iPhone is lost, it is possible to completely lock access to it and display a message on its screen.
To do this, click on Lost Mode in your iPhone window displayed on iCloud. Enter a phone number where you can be reached and click Next.
The next window invites you, if you wish, to customize the message that will be displayed on the device screen. Then click Finish to lock your iPhone remotely
5. Erase the contents of your device
If you are worried that you will never be able to recover your device, it is quite possible to erase all of its content from iCloud.
To do this, in your device’s activity window displayed on the map, click Erase iPhone. An alert message asking you to confirm the action is displayed. If you are sure that you will never be able to recover your device, confirm the deletion of the data it contains by clicking on Erase.
Note that once erased, your iPhone can no longer be located or tracked on the map.