How To Stop Find My Iphone

Find My iPhone is a useful feature, but you'll need to turn it off if you're selling or trading in your device.

Jason Cipriani/CNET

If you're prone to misplacing things, you're not alone, and Apple knows it. Your iPhone has a convenient feature called the Find My network, which helps you track down your phone if it goes missing. The Find My feature also lets youkeep tabs on other devices in and out of the Apple ecosystem, which makes it a nice gift for those of us with a few too many things to keep track of.

However, there are some situations where you should turn off Find My iPhone. The most common scenario is when you're selling, trading in or otherwise saying goodbye to your iPhone. Doing so removes the phone from the list of devices associated with your account and prevents new owners from being able to access information about you.

Fortunately, Apple makes it easy to turn off Find My iPhone. The steps vary depending on the operating system you're using, but you only need a few steps to flip that switch. Here's what you need to know.

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How to turn off Find My iPhone (on iOS 13 or later)

1. Open up the Settings menu.

2. Select your name at the top of the menu. Then select the Find My option.

find-my-iphone-apple — Adam Benjamin/CNET

3. At the top of the next page, Tap Find My iPhone, and toggle the Find My iPhone setting off. You can also toggle off the Find My network, and the Send Last Location option (which automatically sends the location of your phone to Apple when the battery is critically low).