The most important thing that you can do to find your lost iPhone is done before it goes missing. Go to the Settings of your iPhone, tap your Apple ID, tap iCloud, tap Find My iPhone. Make sure that Find My iPhone is turned on here. If it is not, then there is nothing you can do when you lose it. If you already had ‘Find My iPhone’ turned on, then there is still hope to locate it. Follow these steps to figure out how you can find your lost iPhone again.
- Go to icloud.com/find on a laptop or desktop. Or use the Find My iPhone app on your iPad if you have signed on it using the same Apple ID. Enter your Apple ID and password and sign in.
- Click “All Devices” on the top of the screen to see a list of all the Apple products that you own and have permission to track.
- Click on the icon of your phone. If your phone is on, you will see its current location on a map. If the location is close to you, like in your house, you can click ‘Play Sound.’ The phone will play a loud sound with vibration so that you can track it.
- If your phone is powered off, the sound will play as soon as it powers on. However, this will not help if your phone’s battery was drained when it was lost.
- If the phone is not near you or not powered on, you can activate Lost Mode. This mode locks the phone instantly or when it is powered on. It also suspends Apple Pay so your messages, contacts, credit cards or personal information cannot be accessed. The Lost Mode also display a message and your contact information on the lock screen.
- The final step you can take when you know that your phone has been stolen is to erase the data on it. You can do this through Find My Phone app. However, keep in mind that once you wipe the data, you will no longer be able to track it. The phone will also be removed from your Apple ID, and it will be open and ready for someone new to sign in and use.
You can use the same method to find your other Apple products like Apple Watch, Macbook, and AirPods as well.