Losing your phone is stressful, and panic leads to bad decisions. Apple’s guidance is calm and ordered: find it, protect it, and only then think about erasing it.
Step 1: Find it
- Open the Find My app on another Apple device, or go to icloud.com/find.
- Choose Devices (or Items for an AirTag).
- Select the lost device to see it on a map.
- Tap the More button, then Directions to open its location in Maps. When you are close, tap Play Sound.
If your iPhone has Ultra Wideband, Find Nearby shows distance and direction to an AirTag or AirPods Pro 2 or later. With no Apple device handy, Apple says to use Find Devices on iCloud.com or a family member’s device.
Step 2: Mark it as lost
Lost Mode locks the device with a passcode or your Apple Account password. On devices that support Apple Pay, it suspends payment cards and passes. You can also show a message with your contact details so a finder can reach you. In Find My, select the device, tap the More button, scroll to the “Lost” section and follow the steps.
Step 3: Erase it only if you must
Apple is blunt here: try everything else first, because erasing cannot be undone. Choose Erase This Device in Find My, or on iCloud.com. If you have two-factor authentication off, you cannot erase remotely from the app and need iCloud.com instead. On iOS 15 and later you can still find a device after erasing it. See how two-factor authentication works.
What the messages mean
- “No location found”: more than seven days passed since the device last sent its location through the Find My network.
- “Not sharing location ยท Online”: the device is online but cannot send its location, for example because of a Location Services problem.
- Offline: if the battery ran out, you can see the last known location for up to seven days.
If you turned on Send Last Location, the phone tries to upload its position just before it needs charging, and it shows on iCloud.com for up to 24 hours.
Do this now, before you lose anything
Make sure Find My is on. Apple says the Find My network is a crowdsourced network of over a billion Apple devices using Bluetooth, and that reports are anonymous and encrypted. It only helps if it was enabled before the loss.
Frequently asked questions
Can I find a phone that is switched off?
You may see its last known location, but Apple’s page describes live location for devices that are powered on and connected.
Should I erase right away?
No. Use Lost Mode first and erase only if you believe the device is permanently lost or stolen.
Sources
Last checked November 3, 2026. Apple changes its instructions between updates, so if a menu looks different on your Mac, check the linked Apple page.
