How to Turn Off Find My iPhone.
Introduced in 2010 as a way to find lost or stolen Apple devices, Find My iPhone is one of the most important security measures available to Apple users to keep their devices secure. This gives you the ability to track, erase, or remotely lock your entire Apple kit, including any iPhone, iPad, and Mac connected to your Apple ID.
However, there are times when you might want to turn off Find My iPhone. You will need to turn it off if you sell your iPhone or are worried about someone tracking you down with your Apple ID. If you want to know how to turn off Find My iPhone, follow these steps.
Disable Finding iPhone on iPhone or iPad
As we mentioned, disabling Find My iPhone is important if you want to sell your device, switch to a different Apple ID, or if your account has been jailbroken. You can do this on any iPhone or iPad that you own, as long as the devices use the same Apple ID.
- To turn off Find My iPhone on your iPad or iPhone, open the Settings menu for your device. In the settings menu, tap your name at the top of the menu. For older iOS devices, you’ll need to tap iCloud instead.
- In the Account Settings menu, click iCloud. On older iOS devices, you can skip this step.
- From the iCloud menu, tap Find My iPhone (called Find iPad / iPod on other devices) to enter the menu and start turning it off. On older iOS devices, you can simply tap the slider next to Find My iPhone in the iCloud menu to turn it off.
- Tap the slider next to Find My iPhone to turn it off in the Find My iPhone menu. To do this, you need to confirm your Apple ID username and password. On older iOS devices, you can skip this step.
This will disable Find My iPhone and keep your device under its Apple ID. If you want to turn on Find My iPhone later, tap the slider next to Find My iPhone to turn it back on.
Disable Find My iPhone on Mac
If you have a Mac, you can turn off Find Me for any devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID. This includes your Mac, as well as iPhone, iPad, and more.
You can turn off Find Me for Mac by leaving your Apple ID signed in. For other devices, you can use your Mac to remove your Apple ID from the device. This will remove Find Me, but you will be signed out of your Apple ID.
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- To do this, open the System Preferences application. You can do this by clicking the icon in the Dock or by clicking Apple menu System Preferences.
- From the System Preferences menu, click the Apple ID icon.
- If you want to turn off Find My Mac for Mac, click iCloud, then click to uncheck Find My Mac. You will need to confirm this by providing a password for your Apple ID.
- For other devices (eg iPhone), you will need to select your Apple device from the list on the left. Clicking on it will open the available options for that device. To remove it from your account (thus disabling Find My tracking, as well as removing your settings and information), click the Remove from Account button at the bottom of the screen.
If you turn off Find Me on your Mac, you can return to this menu in the future to turn it on. For other devices, deleting your Apple ID this way will disable Find Me, but it will also wipe your device, so be sure to back up your iPhone or iPad before proceeding.
How to turn off Find iPhone using iCloud
On the iCloud website, you can turn off Find My iPhone on other devices, such as an Android PC or Windows PC. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wipe your device to do this remotely – the iCloud website doesn’t allow you to simply shut down your system as a security measure, as it could put your device and data at risk.
This makes this option the last option, which may only be useful in certain situations. You can do this if you sold your device but forgot to remove it from your account first.
- To do this, go to the iCloud website using your web browser. To continue, you will need to click on the Find iPhone icon on the home screen.
- At the top of the Find My iPhone page, click All Devices, then select the device you want to remove.
- Click the Erase button to first erase the settings and files from the device. This should delete all of your data, but the device will remain linked to your Apple ID. In the next step, you will need to click “Erase” to confirm.
- After erasing the device, click the Remove from Account button to completely remove the device from your account. This will disable Find Me and remove any link from the device to your account. Click Delete again to confirm.
Turn Off Find My iPhone Without Credentials
If you don’t have your Apple ID sign-in information on a device that has Find Me enabled, you can’t turn it off. It’s part of the general security measures Apple has put in place to prevent stolen Apple devices from being erased and reused without the owner’s consent.
If your Apple device is erased, but it was not previously removed from your Apple account, the Activation Lock will remain in place. There is no workaround for this – you either need to replace the device or try to regain access to your Apple ID by resetting your password or contacting Apple directly.
Once you have access to your account, you can turn off Find Me or completely remove your Apple ID from the device.
Secure your Apple devices
Knowing how to turn off Find My iPhone is essential if you want to sell your iPhone or change Apple IDs. Using it provides another layer of protection against theft, but if you’re worried about losing access, be sure to enable two-factor authentication for iCloud to keep your Apple ID safe.
If you have a Mac, you can also turn on Activation Lock as another layer of anti-theft protection so that no one can use your Mac even if they can wipe it off first. Share your Apple security tips with us in the comments below.
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