Find My iPhone is an invaluable tool that helps you locate and protect your iPhone if it ever gets lost or stolen. However, sometimes Find My iPhone may stop working properly, leaving you unable to track or remotely lock your device.
If you’re encountering issues with Find My iPhone not working, don’t panic. In most cases, the problem can be easily fixed by trying a few troubleshooting steps. Here are the top 10 effective ways to get Find My iPhone working again in 2024.
1. Check Internet Connectivity
The most obvious reason Find My iPhone may not be working is lack of internet connectivity. Find My iPhone relies on an active internet connection to communicate with Apple’s servers and relay information about your device’s location.
Here are some things you can try to restore internet connectivity:
- For WiFi connectivity issues, power cycle your router and reconnect your iPhone to the WiFi. Make sure you’re connecting to the proper network.
- For cellular data problems, toggle Airplane Mode on and off to reset the cellular radio. Move to an area with better cell reception.
- Update your iPhone to the latest iOS version, as older versions may have connectivity bugs.
- Reset network settings on your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This will clear any problematic network configs.
Once you have internet access again, open Find My iPhone and see if it starts working. A stable internet connection is key for Find My iPhone functionality.
2. Check Apple ID and iCloud Settings
In order for Find My iPhone to work, it needs to be enabled using the proper Apple ID and iCloud settings. Here are some things to verify:
- Make sure Find My iPhone is enabled in Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My iPhone. Toggle it on if disabled.
- Check that you’re signed in with the correct Apple ID that is associated with your iPhone. Go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud and confirm.
- Ensure that iCloud is enabled on your iPhone by checking Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud. iCloud connectivity powers Find My iPhone.
- Verify your iCloud account has enough storage space for backups and Find My iPhone data. You may need to purchase more iCloud storage.
- Check that Location Services is enabled for Find My iPhone under Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Find My iPhone.
Correcting any issues with your Apple ID, iCloud account, or related settings can help get Find My iPhone functional again.
3. Update iOS Software
Having an outdated version of iOS can cause problems with Find My iPhone. Apple is continually updating the Find My iPhone service with new features and bug fixes.
To ensure compatibility, update your iPhone to the latest iOS version:
- Plug your iPhone into power and connect to WiFi.
- Go to Settings > General > Software Update to check for any available updates.
- Tap Download and Install to update your iPhone to the newest iOS version.
Updating provides important security patches, resolves bugs that may disrupt Find My iPhone, and ensures your software has all the newest features. Be sure to keep your iPhone updated going forward.
4. Restart Your iPhone
Before you try anything else, simply restarting your iPhone can surprisingly fix Find My iPhone connectivity issues. The reboot clears out any glitches and resets all components.
To restart an iPhone 8 or earlier, hold down the Power button until you see the “slide to power off” prompt. Slide it, then wait 30 seconds and turn your iPhone back on.
For iPhone X or later, hold the Side button and either Volume button until the power off slider appears. Slide to turn off, wait 30 seconds, then power back on.
Give Find My iPhone a try after the reboot. Sometimes that’s all you need to get it working properly again.
5. Reset Network Settings
As discussed before, network connectivity issues can prevent Find My iPhone from working correctly. If you’re still having problems after following the connectivity troubleshooting tips, try resetting all network settings on your iPhone.
Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
This will wipe any problematic network settings and restore them to their defaults. Make sure to reconnect to your WiFi network afterwards.
Resetting network settings straightens out any configuration problems that may be interfering with Find My iPhone communicating with Apple’s servers.
6. Turn Off and On Find My iPhone
Toggle Find My iPhone off and then on again as a troubleshooting step. This essentially refreshes the Find My iPhone service and re-syncs it with your iCloud account.
To turn Find My iPhone off, go to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My iPhone. Slide the toggle off.
Now power your iPhone off completely, wait 30 seconds, then turn it back on.
Once the iPhone is booted up, go back to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My > Find My iPhone and re-enable it.
With Find My iPhone toggled back on, check to see if it starts working properly again. Essentially turning it “off and on again” resets the service and reconnects it.
7. Remove Your Apple ID and Sign Back In
Signing out of your Apple ID everywhere and signing back in can help straighten out account issues that may be interfering with Find My iPhone.
Start by opening Settings and tapping your name at the top. Scroll down and tap Sign Out to sign out of your Apple ID on the iPhone.
Next, go to appleid.apple.com and sign out of your Apple ID there as well. Also sign out of iCloud.com.
With your ID signed out everywhere, power your iPhone off completely and back on.
Once booted up, go through the setup process again, making sure to re-enter your correct Apple ID and password to sign back in. Enable Find My iPhone again too.
This often resolves any mismatches between your hardware and account that could prevent Find My iPhone from connecting.
8. Factory Reset iPhone
If all else fails, doing a factory reset can wipe out any problematic settings, caches, or persistent software glitches that are preventing Find My iPhone from working.
Note this will erase all data and settings on your iPhone.
To reset, go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. This will reset the iPhone to its factory default state.
When the reset completes, set up your iPhone from scratch. Be sure to re-enable Find My iPhone and sign in using your proper Apple ID during setup.
The fresh software state can clear up stubborn issues that a basic restart did not address. Just be ready to spend some time personalizing your iPhone again afterwards.
9. Contact Apple Support
If you still can’t get Find My iPhone working after trying all the troubleshooting steps, your best recourse is contacting Apple support for further help. There may be deeper account or technical issues that require investigation by Apple.
You can contact Apple support via:
- The Apple Support app on your iPhone – Offers chat and phone options.
- support.apple.com – Initiate a support request online.
- Apple support phone number – Call 1-800-APL-CARE (800-275-2273) to speak to an advisor.
- Genius Bar at Apple store – Make an appointment and get hands-on help.
Apple support can run diagnostics, investigate server logs, and potentially resolve difficult account issues that you can’t fix yourself.
10. Locate iPhone Without Find My iPhone
What if nothing seems to get Find My iPhone working again? While not ideal, there are still some options for trying to recover your lost iPhone even if Find My iPhone is unavailable. Consider these alternatives:
GPS Tracking Apps – If you had another GPS tracking app installed on your lost iPhone, try using its locating features. Apps like Life360, Tile, Radar, or Spyzie may be able to pinpoint your device.
File a Police Report – For stolen iPhones, file a police report and give them any tracking information you have. They can work with carriers to recover stolen devices in some cases.
Call Your Number – Have a friend call your missing iPhone’s number in case someone found it and answers. Leave a voicemail asking them to contact you.
Carrier Tracking – Your cell provider may offer tracking that could locate your iPhone, albeit less accurately than Find My. Contact them.
Login Tracking – See if any friends or family notice your Apple ID logging in unexpectedly, signaling someone found your unlocked iPhone.
While not perfect, using these alternative tracking methods could potentially help recover a lost iPhone even with Find My iPhone unavailable. Don’t give up hope just yet.
Why is Find My iPhone Not Working?
There are several potential reasons why Find My iPhone may not be working:
- No internet connection – Find My iPhone relies on an internet connection, either cellular data or WiFi, to communicate with Apple’s servers. Make sure your iPhone has connectivity.
- Find My iPhone disabled – Check that Find My iPhone is enabled in your iCloud settings on the device. You can toggle it on under Settings > [Your Name] > Find My.
- Logged out of iCloud – You need to be logged into iCloud with the Apple ID associated with your iPhone for Find My to work. Double check under Settings.
- iCloud storage full – Running out of iCloud storage can disrupt Find My capabilities. Make sure you have sufficient storage.
- Outdated iOS – An older iOS version may have bugs affecting Find My. Update your iPhone to the latest iOS for fixes.
- Cellular radio issue – Toggle Airplane mode on/off to reset the cellular radio if Find My isn’t working over cellular data.
- Apple server outage – Rarely, an issue with Apple’s servers could disrupt Find My iPhone connectivity. Check Apple’s System Status page.
- Software glitch – Try rebooting your iPhone and/or resetting network settings to clear any software glitches.
If still not working, contact Apple Support for help troubleshooting further. But in most cases, Find My iPhone issues can be resolved by double checking connectivity, settings, and performing resets as needed.
Is it Possible to Fix Find My iPhone Not Working?
Yes, it is possible to fix issues with Find My iPhone not working in most cases. Here are some troubleshooting tips:
- Check for internet connectivity issues on the iPhone and reconnect/reset as needed. Find My requires an internet connection.
- Make sure Find My iPhone is enabled in iCloud settings, and that you’re logged into the proper iCloud account.
- Update your iPhone software in case bugs in older iOS versions are causing problems.
- Reset network settings on the iPhone to wipe any problematic network configs.
- Restart the iPhone to clear out any software glitches.
- Sign out of iCloud entirely, restart the phone, and sign back in to re-authenticate.
- As a last resort, do a factory reset of the iPhone to wipe out any persistent issues.
- Contact Apple support for further investigation if these steps don’t resolve it.
- Use alternative tracking methods like GPS apps or carrier tracking if Find My remains unavailable.
Following this troubleshooting guidance can help successfully fix Find My iPhone connectivity problems in most cases. Only very rarely would the issue be unresolvable. Apple provides plenty of tools to restore Find My iPhone functionality.
Find My Live Location Not Working: How to Fixed?
Here are some tips to try if you’re having issues with Find My iPhone’s Live Location feature not working properly:
Check Location Services Settings
Make sure Location Services are enabled for Find My iPhone. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and check that Find My iPhone has location access enabled. This allows Find My to pinpoint your device’s live location.
Confirm Cellular Data is On
Live Location uses cellular data to transmit your iPhone’s location in real-time. Go to Settings > Cellular and make sure Cellular Data is toggled on. Connect your iPhone to a stable cellular network.
Toggle Airplane Mode Off and On
Toggle Airplane Mode off and back on again. This resets the cellular radio and can resolve connectivity issues that may be preventing Live Location from working.
Restart Your iPhone
Sometimes a simple reboot can fix problems with Live Location not updating. Power your iPhone off completely, leave it for 30 seconds, then turn it back on.
Update iOS Software
Having an outdated OS version can cause Find My issues. Make sure your iPhone is updated to the latest iOS for optimal performance. Install any available updates.
Reset Network Settings
Go to Settings > General > Reset and select Reset Network Settings. This will wipe any problematic network configs that could be interfering with Live Location.
Check Apple System Status
Rarely, an outage on Apple’s side could disrupt Live Location functionality. Check https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/ to see if Apple is reporting any issues.
Following these troubleshooting tips should help get Find My iPhone’s Live Location feature working properly again. Be sure to also check that Find My iPhone itself is enabled and functional too.
Troubleshooting Tips for When Find My iPhone is Not Working
Here are some troubleshooting tips for when Find My iPhone is not working:
- Check that your iPhone has an internet connection (WiFi or cellular data). Find My requires an internet connection to update location.
- Make sure Find My iPhone is enabled in your iCloud settings. Go to Settings > [your name] > Find My and toggle on Find My iPhone.
- Sign out of iCloud entirely, restart your iPhone, then sign back in. This will re-authenticate your Apple ID with Find My.
- Update your iPhone software in case bugs in your current iOS version are preventing Find My from working.
- Try resetting your network settings by going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This clears any problematic network configs.
- Attempt restarting your iPhone to eliminate any software glitches that may be interfering with Find My.
- As a last resort, do a factory reset of your iPhone to wipe out any stubborn software issues. Just be sure to backup first.
- Check Apple’s system status page to see if there are any known outages. Rarely iCloud disruptions can cause Find My problems.
- Contact Apple support for further troubleshooting help if you still can’t get Find My iPhone working after trying all of the above.
In most cases, Find My iPhone issues can be fixed by carefully checking connectivity, settings, doing resets, installing updates, and contacting Apple if needed. With patience, you should be able to get Find My working again.
Conclusion
Hopefully these 10 solutions get Find My iPhone working properly again for you when it starts acting up. The key is methodically verifying connectivity issues, account settings, performing restarts and resets if needed, updating software, and contacting Apple as a last resort.
With Find My iPhone functioning, you can rest assured knowing you can locate, lock, or remotely wipe your iPhone if the worst happens and it becomes lost or stolen. Don’t wait until you need Find My.
Also Read
What Does No Location Found Mean?
Find My iPhone on Your Mac: A Comprehensive Guide
Others A&Q
Why is Find My iPhone not locating my device?
The most common reasons Find My iPhone can’t locate a device are no internet connection, Find My disabled, logged out of iCloud, invalid Apple ID, or iPhone powered off. Check these items first.
I forgot my Apple ID password. Can I still use Find My iPhone?
No, you must sign in with the Apple ID associated with your iPhone for Find My to work. Use account recovery options to reset your password.
Find My can’t find my iPhone. Is it gone forever?
Not necessarily. Try rebooting your iPhone in case it’s powered off. Use Lost Mode to lock and get notified if it comes online. File a police report if you suspect theft.
Why would Find My iPhone say offline when my device has internet?
A software glitch can cause incorrect offline status. Restart your iPhone and iCloud account sign out/sign in to refresh Find My connection.
How do I re-enable Find My iPhone if disabled?
On the iPhone, go to Settings > [Your Name] > Find My and turn on Find My iPhone. Confirm it’s on at iCloud.com as well.
Can I locate my iPhone if I don’t have internet access?
No, Find My requires an active internet connection on your iPhone to communicate location. Use WiFi or cellular data to restore connectivity.
How can I track my lost iPhone if Find My is not working?
You can attempt to use a location app like Life360 if installed prior to loss, file a police report, or contact your carrier for potential network location options.
Why does Find My iPhone say online but not show location?
If location services are off, Find My may only show online status without pinpointing device location. Check location settings.
What should I do if Find My iPhone still doesn’t work after troubleshooting?
Contact Apple Support directly for further assistance if you cannot get Find My iPhone working after trying all the standard troubleshooting steps.