Losing your iPhone is stressful, especially if you think someone might have stolen it. There is, however, a silver lining. Your iPhone can still be tracked and found even when it's completely turned off. Apple's Find My Network uses nearby Apple devices to anonymously locate your phone and send that encrypted location data to iCloud, meaning a thief can't just power down your iPhone to make it disappear.
This feature has been available since the iPhone 11, and works as long as you've set up Find My beforehand. Whether your phone died or was deliberately powered down, you can still see where it is from another device. Here's how to make sure the feature is enabled and how to use it to track down your missing iPhone.
1. Make sure Find My is on
Before you can track a powered-off iPhone, you need to enable Find My Network in your settings. Open Settings, tap your name at the top, then go to Find My, Find My iPhone and toggle on Find My iPhone. Below that, you'll see Find My Network and Send Last Location — turn both of these on as well.
To confirm everything is working, swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center, then press and hold the power button (or hold the side and volume down buttons). Look for "iPhone Findable After Power Off" under the power slider. If you see that message, your iPhone is set up to be tracked even when it's turned off.
2. Find your iPhone using another Apple device
If you've lost your iPhone and have another Apple device like an iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, open the Find My app and go to the Devices tab. Your iPhone should appear in the list even if it's powered off, as long as you enabled Find My Network beforehand.
Tap your iPhone's name to see its location on a map. If you think it's nearby, tap Play Sound to make it emit a loud noise even if it's on silent.
3. If you think your phone was stolen
If you're certain it was stolen, tap Activate under Mark As Lost to immediately lock the device with your passcode, disable Apple Pay, and display a custom message with your contact information.
You can also tap Directions to get navigation to the device's last known location.
4. Track your iPhone from a web browser
If you don't have another Apple device handy, you can still track your iPhone by signing into iCloud.com/find from any web browser. Log in with your Apple ID (note that two-factor authentication might make this tricky without another Apple device). Once you're in, click on the Devices list to see all your Apple products.
Next, select your iPhone from the list to view its location on a map. From here, you have the same options as the app: play a sound, mark it as lost, or erase the device remotely.
5. Prevent thieves from disabling tracking
One weakness in Find My is that thieves can potentially disable it by accessing Control Center from the lock screen to turn on Airplane Mode or disable cellular data. To prevent this, go to Settings, Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode), enter your passcode, and scroll down to the Allow Access When Locked section. Then simply toggle off Control Center to block lock screen access.
This means you won't be able to access Control Center without unlocking your phone first, which adds some inconvenience to daily use, but it's worth enabling when traveling or in situations where theft is more likely.
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