Whether your iPhone is going in for a screen repair or being sold to its next owner, there is one setting you will almost certainly be asked to switch off first: Find My iPhone. Apple requires it off for most repairs, and leaving it on when you sell makes the phone unusable for the buyer. Turning it off is quick, but you should understand what it does and when it is safe to do.
Quick Answer
To turn off Find My iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name at the top, tap Find My, tap Find My iPhone, and switch it off, entering your Apple ID password to confirm. This also disables Activation Lock. Only do it when the phone is physically with you for a repair or a sale you are completing in person.
Why Find My Has to Go Off for Repairs
Find My is tied to Activation Lock and to the phone’s secure hardware pairing. During many repairs, technicians need to run diagnostics and sometimes calibrate or replace parts that are cryptographically paired with the device. With Find My active, those processes are blocked, and Apple and most authorised repairers will simply refuse the repair or ask you to turn it off on the spot. Switching it off at home before you travel saves a wasted trip.
Some repairs arranged through Apple now use a feature that lets you keep Find My on while marking the device as in repair, but that is offered during the booking process when available; if you were told to turn it off, turn it off.
Step-by-Step: Turn Off Find My iPhone
- Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
- Tap Find My.
- Tap Find My iPhone.
- Switch Find My iPhone off.
- Enter your Apple ID password when asked and tap Turn Off.
- The settings for Find My network and Send Last Location switch off with it.
That password step is the security heart of the feature: a thief with your phone cannot disable Find My without your Apple ID password, which is exactly why it deters theft. It also means that if you have forgotten the password, you must reset it through Apple’s account recovery before any repair or sale can proceed.
Turning Off Find My When You Sell the Phone
For a sale, you rarely need the manual steps above, because erasing the phone does the job as part of the process. When you run Erase All Content and Settings and enter your Apple ID password, Find My and Activation Lock are switched off and the phone is removed from your account. The complete sequence is in our guide on factory resetting an iPhone before selling it, and it is the safest order to follow because it protects your data as well as unlocking the phone.
What If the Phone Is Broken and You Cannot Use the Screen?
If the phone is too damaged to navigate Settings, you can remove it from Find My remotely. Sign in to iCloud on any browser, open Find My, select the phone, and choose Remove from Account, or Erase iPhone first if it still holds your data and then remove it. Repairers can usually proceed once the device is removed from your account. Apple explains the remote options in its official iPhone support pages.
Turning It Back On After a Repair
Once your repaired phone is back in your hands, switch Find My straight back on with the same steps in reverse: Settings > your name > Find My > Find My iPhone, and enable it along with the Find My network and Send Last Location options. Your phone is significantly harder to recover if it is lost while Find My is off, so do not let days pass. Check it is working by looking at the phone’s location from another device or the iCloud website.
Mistakes to Avoid
Never turn off Find My because a buyer, a stranger, or a message asked you to while the phone is still yours and in your possession only for a “quick check”; with it off and the password known, the phone can be stripped from your account. Only disable it for a booked repair or a sale you are completing. Also avoid confusing turning off Find My with erasing: switching it off alone leaves all your data on the phone, so a sale still needs the full erase afterwards.
Find My Settings Worth Checking While You Are There
The Find My iPhone screen contains two companion options that deserve a glance whenever you visit it. “Find My network” lets your phone be located by the wider network of Apple devices even when it is offline or recently powered down, which dramatically improves recovery chances. “Send Last Location” automatically reports the phone’s position when the battery is about to die, giving you a final pin on the map in the worst moment. Both should be on for everyday life; they switch off automatically with the main Find My toggle when you disable it for a repair or sale, and they switch back on when you re-enable it, but it is worth confirming with your own eyes rather than assuming.
Knowing these options also explains a puzzle for sellers: a buyer checks a phone, sees it as location-disabled, and worries something is wrong with it. Nothing is wrong; that is simply what a correctly prepared phone looks like before it is set up under a new account.
Conclusion
Turning off Find My iPhone is a thirty-second job in Settings, protected by your Apple ID password, and it is a required step before most repairs and any sale. Do it at the right moment, in the right context, and switch it back on the moment a repaired phone returns to you so your safety net is restored.
What Repairers and Buyers Actually Check
It helps to know what the other side looks for. A repairer checks whether the device is removed from Find My so their diagnostic and calibration tools can run; many will show you the status on their own system before accepting the job. A careful buyer checks the same thing by starting the setup: if the phone reaches the home screen setup without demanding a previous owner’s password, Activation Lock is off and the phone is clean. Knowing this explains why the step is non-negotiable in both worlds, and why handling it yourself, in advance, in the correct order, marks you out as exactly the kind of seller or customer everyone hopes to deal with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does turning off Find My erase my data?
No. It only stops location tracking and removes Activation Lock. Your photos, messages and accounts remain on the phone, which is why a sale still requires a full erase afterwards.
I forgot my Apple ID password. Can I still turn off Find My?
Not until you recover the password. Use Apple’s account recovery from a trusted device or the web. This delay is deliberate security design, so start recovery early if a repair is booked.
Will the repair shop turn Find My back on for me?
They cannot, because turning it on requires your Apple ID password, which you should never hand over. Switch it back on yourself as soon as the phone is returned.
What is the difference between turning off Find My and removing the device?
Turning it off on the phone stops tracking for that device while it stays listed in your account. Removing the device from your account entirely severs the link, which is what a completed sale or a remote repair fix requires.
Can I turn off Find My for just one of my devices?
Yes. Find My is controlled per device. Turning it off on an iPhone does not affect your iPad, Mac or AirPods, each of which has its own switch under the same Find My settings.
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