How To Turn Off Find My iPhone From Another Device

If you forget to disable Find My iPhone on your device before you sell it, send it in for repair, or give it away you can turn it off remotely.

This means you can switch off Find My from another device, even if you no longer have it with you.

If you don’t disable Find My on an iPhone you sold then the new owner will not be able to reset and use the device you gave them. Instead, Find My iPhone will trigger the Activation Lock and request your Apple ID and password are entered into the device before it can be set up. This makes the Apple product you sold unusable until you switch it off remotely.

The same issue occurs if you send your device in for repair. Find My will prevent the technician from being able to reset your device ready to be fixed.

In this guide you will find out:

• How to turn off Find My iPhone from another device.
• What will happen when you disable Find My remotely.
• What is the link between iCloud, Find My, and the Activation Lock.

To find out more about Find My see our in-depth Find My guide.

Having the ability to switch off Find My Device remotely is vital if your phone is damaged. To find out more, see how to turn off Find My iPhone on a broken iPhone.

How to turn off Find My iPhone remotely

You can disable Find My iPhone remotely using the following methods:

• From another Apple device you own.
• From your Mac computer.
• Via iCloud on any smartphone, tablet, or computer.

All of these techniques wipe all the data from your iPhone. So if you want to keep your data you need to perform a backup before you turn off Find My.

Turn off Find My iPhone from another device

You can switch off Find My from another Apple device you own by doing the following:

1. On the other Apple device you own, open the Find My app.
   
2. At the bottom of the screen, tap Devices.
   
3. Tap the device you want to turn off the Find My feature on.
4. Swipe up to open all the settings.
   
5. Tap Remove This Device,  then Remove.

   

6. When prompted, enter your Apple ID and password.
7. Find My iPhone will be disabled and the device will be removed from your iCloud account.

This will work from an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

Turn off Find My iPhone from Mac

You can switch off Find My from a Mac computer you own by doing the following:

1. At the top left, click the Apple menu.
2. On the drop-down menu, click System Preferences.
3. On the window that opens, click Apple ID.
4. On the left sidebar, click the device you want to turn off Find My iPhone on.
5.  On the right, click Remove from account.
6. When prompted, enter your Apple ID password.
7. Find My iPhone will be switched off and the device will be removed from your iCloud account.

Turn off Find My iPhone via iCloud

If you don’t own another Apple product then you can remotely turn off Find My via the Apple ID website. This works from a Windows PC, Mac, Android tablet, or any smartphone.

On your other device the following:

1. Open a web browser and go to the Apple ID website.
   
2. When prompted, Sign in with your Apple ID.
3. On the menu, click Devices.
   
4. On the list, pick the device on which you want to turn off Find My iPhone.

   

5. Click Remove from account, then click Remove to confirm.
6. Find My iPhone will be disabled.

What happens after disabling Find My iPhone remotely

After turning off Find My iPhone you will no longer be able to do a number of things on your device:

• Track it.
• Remotely erase it.
• Show an alert on the screen.
• Play a sound to help you locate it.
• Remotely lock it.
• Enable lost mode.
• Send notification to you if left behind or lost.
• Locate friends or family.
• Track compatible accessories.

This is fine if you have sold or given away your device.

If you plan to keep your device Apple advises that Find My Device is turned on all the time. It will help protect your data and prevent your device from being used if it falls into the wrong hands.

How to switch off Find My iPhone on the device

If you still have physical access to your device, you can switch off Find My by doing the following:

1. On your Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod, tap Settings.
   
2. Tap [Your Name] at the top.
   
3. Tap Find My.
   
4. Tap on Find My [device].

   

5. Tap the toggle to disable Find My [device].
   
6. When prompted, enter your Apple ID password.

To find out more, see How to turn off Find My Device.

How to remove Find My without knowing the Apple ID and password

Before you sell, give away, or send your iOS device away for repair you need to turn off Find My. This will prevent the Activation Lock from being enabled.

When you go through the steps to disable Find My, you will be asked for your Apple ID and password. If you can’t remember your Apple sign-in details, you should reset your Apple ID password.

If you can’t recover your password you can remove iCloud activation lock without knowing the Apple ID password. This involves the following:

• Using an iCloud unlock service to disable Find My for you.
• Downloading and installing an iCloud unlock tool.

This will get rid of Find My iPhone without you knowing the Apple ID and password.

For further information on Activation Lock see:

• Apple iPod Touch Activation Lock.
• Activation Lock on MacBook, iMac, and other Mac computers.
• Activation Lock on iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPad Air.
• Activation Lock on iPhone.
• Activation Lock on Apple Watch.