How to factory reset your AirTags

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Here's how to factory reset your AirTags, so you can hand them off to someone else

How to factory reset your airtags
(Image credit: Apple)

Knowing how to factory reset your AirTags is vital if you want to share them with another person. 

While AirTags are extremely useful tools for finding your lost stuff, they can only be associated with a single Apple ID at any given time. That means you can’t share your AirTags' location with anyone else, including members of your own family — which is a pain if they've been attached to something that's used by everyone.

How to factory reset your AirTags using the Find My app

The whole process is pretty straightforward, so it shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes to get everything done.

  1. Make sure your AirTag is within Bluetooth range, otherwise the reset won’t work 
  2. Open the ‘Find My’ app 
  3. Select the AirTag you want to remove from your list of devices 
  4. Swipe up to reveal the AirTag settings menu 
  5. Hit ‘Remove Item’ 
  6. Hit Remove and then Remove again on the pop-up menu 

How to factory reset your AirTags manually

If you find yourself in a situation where the reset doesn’t take, but the AirTag has already been removed from your Apple ID, you’ll need to do a physical reset:

  1. Press on the stainless steel section on the bottom of the AirTag 
  2. While pressing down, rotate the cover counter clockwise until it stops 
  3. Pull both pieces apart to open up the AirTag 
  4. Remove and replace the battery, being careful not to let any young children get hold of it while you do so. 
  5. Press down until the battery makes a sound 
  6. Repeat this process four more times, so you hear the AirTag make a sound five times 
  7. Reattach the cover and press down until it makes another sound 
  8. Rotate the cover clockwise until it locks in place 

Given the time it’ll take to do a manual reset, it’s best to try and avoid that situation if you can. So always make sure you keep AirTags within Bluetooth range if you’re going to try to reset them.

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Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.