How to Turn Off Find My iPhone (Before You Sell or Repair)

To turn off Find My iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, tap Find My, tap Find My iPhone, switch it off and enter your Apple Account password. If you no longer have the phone, you can remove it from your account at iCloud.com/find. Turning Find My off also removes Activation Lock, which is why you do it before selling, trading in or handing the phone over for repair.

This guide covers both routes, what Stolen Device Protection changes, why buyers care about Activation Lock, and the order that avoids losing data. Each iOS detail links to the Apple Support page it comes from.

Turn off Find My iPhone on the phone

Apple’s iPhone guide gives the path as Settings > [your name] > Find My.

1. Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
2. Tap Find My, then tap Find My iPhone.
3. Switch Find My iPhone off.
4. Enter your Apple Account password when asked, then tap Turn Off.

Apple says that turning off Find My automatically removes Activation Lock. You need to know your Apple Account password for this. If you don’t, Apple’s sign-out page advises changing the password from a trusted device before you go further.

Signing out turns it off too

You do not have to switch Find My off by hand if you are about to sign out anyway. Apple lists Find My among the iCloud services that turn off when you sign out of your Apple Account. On iOS 26 and later, the path is Settings, tap your name, scroll down and tap Sign Out. Apple’s sell or trade-in guide says erasing the phone also turns off Find My and Activation Lock.

The manual switch is still useful when you want Find My off without signing out, for example before a repair shop takes the phone and you plan to stay signed in on it.

If Stolen Device Protection is on

Stolen Device Protection is a separate iPhone setting. Apple’s page on it says Find My must be on to use it, and that you can’t turn Find My off while Stolen Device Protection is enabled. So if the Find My iPhone switch will not let you change it, turn Stolen Device Protection off first.

What Apple documents on that page:

• Away from a familiar location such as home or work, turning off Stolen Device Protection, signing out of your Apple Account and changing your Apple Account password need Face ID or Touch ID, a one-hour security delay, and then Face ID or Touch ID again.
• Erasing all content and settings needs Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback, but no delay.

If you are at home, the delay normally does not apply. If you are somewhere new, expect to wait an hour. Plan for that rather than doing this at the counter of a shop.

Turn it off remotely from iCloud.com

Sometimes the phone is already gone. You sold it and forgot, or you can’t reach the settings. Apple’s guide to removing a device from Find Devices works like this.

1. Go to icloud.com/find and sign in with your Apple Account.
2. Select the device in the list.
3. Select Remove This Device.

What happens next depends on whether the phone can reach the internet.

• Offline. Activation Lock is removed right away, and the device leaves Find My after 30 days. If it comes back online later, it reappears in your list, and Activation Lock turns back on if the phone is still signed in to your Apple Account.
• Online. The device can’t simply be removed. Apple lets you mark it as Ready for Repair or Trade In for 30 days instead.

If the phone is still with you and you want it fully clean, the other route on Apple’s Activation Lock page applies. Erase it first, and once the erase finishes, choose Remove This Device. Don’t enter a phone number or message, because the phone isn’t lost.

What Activation Lock is, and why buyers care

Apple describes Activation Lock as part of Find My, designed to stop anyone else from using your iPhone if it is lost or stolen. It switches on automatically when Find My is on. After that, the owner’s Apple Account password is needed to turn off Find My, erase the phone or reactivate it. Apple notes that Activation Lock stays in effect after a remote erase of a lost phone, which is what protects a stolen one.

That is the buyer’s problem too. Apple tells buyers not to take ownership of a used device that is protected by Activation Lock. A locked phone on iOS 15 or later shows an “iPhone Locked to Owner” screen, and during setup it asks for the previous owner’s Apple Account details. A phone that asks for those cannot be used by the new owner.

For a seller, the fix is cheap and entirely on your side. Turn off Find My and erase the phone, then hand it over. If you skip it, the buyer is stuck until you remove the device from your account. If a removal does not work and you have proof of purchase, Apple’s How to remove Activation Lock page describes an Activation Lock support request. This guide does not cover getting around the lock, and there is no legitimate way to do that without the owner’s account.

The right order before you sell, trade in or repair

Apple’s checklist for selling or trading in an iPhone runs in this order.

1. Back up and move your data. Make a backup, then move everything to the new phone. If you are getting a new iPhone, the transfer guide walks through Quick Start, iCloud and computer backups.
2. Back up again right before you wipe, so the last backup is current. Also unpair any Apple Watch and cancel or transfer AppleCare if relevant.
3. Sign out of your Apple Account. This turns Find My off. Choose to sign out, then follow the prompts.
4. Erase all content and settings. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. On an eSIM phone, choose the option that erases the eSIM profile as well.
5. Remove the old phone from your trusted devices list, in your Apple Account settings.

If you are only sending the phone for repair, ask the repair provider what it needs. The backup step stays the same.

Check your photo vault backup before you erase

An erase removes your apps and the data stored inside them, including files in a vault app. If you keep private photos in a vault app, confirm its backup is current and that you can restore it before you wipe the phone.

In Forevault, run Test a restore first. It checks that the encrypted backup in your own iCloud can be opened, which is the thing you want to know before the original disappears. If you are moving to a new phone, how to move a photo vault to a new iPhone covers what carries over and what to check.

Forevault, in short

Forevault is our vault app for iPhone. Files are encrypted on the device with AES-256-GCM. It opens with a pattern on a 5×5 grid, a passcode or a password, and Face ID is optional. You can keep separate vaults for different patterns, and the lock screen does not list them. There is a 12-word recovery phrase, an encrypted backup to your own iCloud with “Test a restore”, and export to Photos or Files is always free. There is no account and no data collected. The free tier holds 100 photos, 10 videos and 3 vaults, and there is no calculator disguise. It protects against someone holding your phone, not forensic analysis. Download Forevault on the App Store.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need my Apple Account password to turn off Find My iPhone?

Yes. Apple asks for your Apple Account password when you switch Find My iPhone off. If you have forgotten it, change it from a trusted device first. Without the password, Find My stays on and so does Activation Lock.

Does turning off Find My iPhone delete my data?

No. Switching it off only stops the phone being tracked and removes Activation Lock. Your photos and apps stay where they are. Erasing the phone is a separate step in Settings > General > Transfer or Reset.

Why can’t I turn off Find My iPhone?

Common reasons are a forgotten password or Stolen Device Protection being on. Apple says Find My can’t be turned off while Stolen Device Protection is enabled, so turn that off first, which may involve an hour’s wait away from home.

Can I turn off Find My iPhone without the phone?

Yes, in the sense that you can remove the device from your account at icloud.com/find. If the phone is offline, Activation Lock is removed immediately. If it is online, Apple lets you mark it Ready for Repair or Trade In for 30 days instead.

Does erasing my iPhone turn off Find My?

Apple says that when you erase an iPhone, Find My and Activation Lock turn off. You may be asked for your Apple Account password during the erase if Find My was on.

Is it safe to sell an iPhone with Find My still on?

It is a bad idea. The phone stays locked to your account, and the buyer cannot set it up. Turn Find My off, erase the phone, and check it reaches the Hello screen before you hand it over.