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How to turn off your phone's Find My Device feature
Find My Device is one of Android’s most useful features. If you ever lose or misplace your phone, you can look up its location online. It also allows you to lock and erase your device remotely. The feature comes enabled by default on all new phones and runs in the background. But despite all the perks, you may want to turn off Find My Device to maintain your privacy.
Remember that merely disabling this feature is not enough to stop your phone from sharing your location for all other services. You’ll also need to turn off location tracking. Another thing to note is that some phone brands will have slightly different labeling for some menu items we direct you to below. However, following our how-to, you should still find your way around.
QUICK ANSWER
Find My Device can be turned off on Android by going to Settings > Security & privacy > Find My Device, and toggling Use Find My Device off.
Additionally, you can turn off Location Services by going to Settings > Location, and toggling off Use location.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
Editor’s note: We used a Google Pixel 7 running Android 13 and an Apple iPhone 12 Mini running iOS 16.4.1 to formulate these instructions. Come steps may be different depending on your specific hardware and software.
How to turn off Find My Device on Android
The first step is to turn off Find My Device on Android.
- Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
- Tap on Security& privacy.
- Go to Find My Device.
- Toggle off Use Find My Device on top.
How to turn off Location tracking on Android
Turning off all location tracking will ensure your location information isn’t shared with other services and apps.
- Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
- Tap on Location.
- Toggle off the Use location feature.
How to turn off Find My iPhone
Do you have an iPhone? We can help you turn off Find My iPhone, as well.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap on the Apple ID button, which shows up as your name on top of the Settings menu.
- Go into Find My.
- Tap on Find My iPhone.
- Toggle Find My iPhone off.
How to turn off Location Services on iPhone
If you care about privacy and want no services or apps tracking your location, you should also turn off Location Services.
- Open the Settings app.
- Go into Privacy & Security.
- Tap on Location Services.
- Toggle off Location Services.
- Confirm by tapping on Turn Off.
FAQs
Find My Device is a beneficial feature, and it can save your phone from loss or theft. You might want to turn it off if you care about your privacy and want to ensure no company is keeping your private information.
If Find My Device is off, you won’t get any help in case you lose it. You’ll have to resort to other methods for finding your handset.
Location Services or Location Tracking are very important features for any app that needs to know your location for any reason. An obvious example is Google Maps. Some apps request location access for no real reason, though. You can always turn the setting off if you care about keeping your location data and logs private.
Find My Device can do more than just find your phone’s location. You can also use it to ring, lock, or erase your handset.