How do i find the location of an iphone

You can choose who can find your location and how long to share your location with Google Location Sharing.

Tip: Other Google products may also allow you to share a one-time location with others. 

Location Sharing availability

Location Sharing works even when Location History is turned off.

You may get a warning when you open Location sharing. Common causes include:

  • You're in a country or region where you can’t share your location.
  • Location sharing isn’t available for your Google Workspace domain. To turn on location sharing, ask your administrator.
  • You're too young to share your location.
    • When our systems indicate you may be under 18, you can no longer share your location for more than 24 hours. Learn more about age restrictions here. If permanent location sharing was created before September 2, 2021, you can manually disable it.
    • Your parent or guardian can manage Location sharing with the Family Link app 
      How do i find the location of an iphone
      .

If Location sharing doesn’t work for you, send us feedback.

Share your location

Share with a person who has a Google Account

Share with a person who doesn’t have a Google Account

Stop sharing

Share your estimated time of arrival

Get someone’s location

Find someone's location

Ask for someone’s location

After you ask for your contact’s location, they get your email address, a notification and can:

  • View your profile to verify who you are.
  • Share their location with you.
  • Ignore your request.
  • Block you. You can't ask for their location anymore.

Hide or show someone's location

Hide someone's location

If you don’t want someone’s real-time location on your map, you can hide it. You can turn their location back on at any time.

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app​ .
  2. On the map, tap their icon.
  3. At the bottom, tap More
    How do i find the location of an iphone
    .
  4. Tap Hide from map.

Tip: You can permanently block someone’s location from your map. Learn how to block another person’s account.

Turn on someone’s location you’ve hidden

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Your iPhone Has a Hidden List of Every Location You’ve Been

It’s called the Significant Locations list, and you probably didn’t know it existed

Credit: shopplaywood/iStock/Getty Images Plus

How do i find the location of an iphone
Hiding in not-so-plain sight, deep within the depths of your iPhone’s settings (seven layers deep, to be exact) is a level of location tracking that very few iPhone users are aware of and probably won’t feel comfortable with.

  • You can track an iPhone's location as long as its Location Services feature is enabled. 
  • If you lose your iPhone, you can log into iCloud's Find My iPhone webpage and see its location if you have Location Services turned on. 
  • If a friend or family member shares their location with you through the Messages app, you can track their location using the Find My app on your iPhone. 

Thanks to the Find My app on your iPhone, you can track your own phone, which is handy if it's lost or stolen. But you can also track other people's iPhones as well, as long as they opt in and give you permission.

Using the Find My app, you can keep tabs on your kids or easily stay connected with friends and family. For privacy and security, though, these features need to be turned on before you can start tracking people. 

How to turn on location services on your iPhone

If you want to be able to track your own iPhone or let other people track you, first make sure Location Services are enabled. 

1. Start the Settings app and then tap "Privacy."

2. Tap "Location Services."

3. On the Location Services page, ensure it's turned on by swiping the button to the right. 

Turn on Location Services so you can track your own iPhone. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. You can fine-tune the way Location Services works by controlling the permission of specific apps in the list at the bottom of the page. You can enable or disable permission and specify when the app is allowed to see your location. 

You can see where your phone is located from iCloud's Find My iPhone webpage. 

1. Open the Find My iPhone website in a browser. You will probably need to log into your iCloud account using your Apple ID. 

2. Click "All Devices" at the top of the page.

3. Click the entry for your iPhone in the dropdown menu.

Use the Find My iPhone website to find a lost iPhone. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

You can also track your phone using the Find My app on another device signed into the same Apple ID, such as an iPad. 

How to track the location of someone else's iPhone

You can use your iPhone's Find My app to see where friends and family are located as long as they share their location with you. Here's what you and anyone sharing their location with you need to do:

1. The person sharing their location with you should open their Messages app and open a conversation with you. 

2. They should tap your name at the top of the screen and then tap "info."

3. Next, they should tap "Share My Location" and then, in the dropdown menu, choose how long to share this information — an hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. 

You can share your location with a friend using the Messages app. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

4. After they've shared their location, you can start the Find My app on your phone. You should see the person's entry in the "People" section at the bottom of the screen. Tap it to see the location on the map. 

See where one of your contacts is located using the Find My app, as long as they have allowed you to see their location. Dave Johnson/Business Insider

  • Find My Friends is just called 'Find My' in iOS 13 — here's how to access and use it on your iPhone

  • How to use the Find My iPhone feature for a Mac, to locate your computer if it's lost or stolen

  • How to add a device to Find My iPhone to track the location of your iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer

  • How to find your Apple Watch if it's been lost or stolen

  • How to turn off the 'Find My' feature on your iPhone, and what will happen when you do

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.

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How do you find someones location on iPhone?

See the location of a friend Tap People at the bottom of the screen, then tap the name of the person you want to locate. If your friend can be located: They appear on a map so you can see where they are.

How can I find the exact location of a lost iPhone?

Locate a Lost Device From the iCloud Website Open iCloud.com(Opens in a new window) in a web browser and sign in with your Apple ID and password. Click Find iPhone, then open the All Devices drop-down menu and select your iPhone.

Can you find a location of an iPhone with a phone number?

If you lost your iPhone, you could track the device if you have downloaded the "Find My iPhone" application. Find my iPhone is a free Apple application that allows you to log in to your iCloud and track the iPhone with your phone number. Using Google Maps, it detects the current location of your iPhone.