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Locating and protecting a lost iPhone

If there's a downside to using a smartphone (particularly one as smart as the iPhone), it's that you end up with a pretty large chunk of your life on that phone. Initially, that may sound like a good thing, but if you happen to lose your phone, you've also lost that chunk of your life. Plus, assuming you haven't configured your iPhone with a passcode lock, as described earlier, you've opened a gaping privacy hole because anyone can now delve into your data.

If you have been syncing your iPhone with your computer regularly, then you can probably recover most, or even all, of that data. Probably rather find your iPhone because it's expensive and there's just something creepy about the thought of some stranger flicking through your stuff.

The old way of finding your missing iPhone consisted of scouring every nook and cranny that you visited before losing it, and calling up various lost-and-found departments to see if anyone turned it in. The new way to find your iPhone is via an app called Find My iPhone. (You can also use this feature through your iCloud account, if you have one.) Find My iPhone uses the GPS sensor embedded inside your iPhone to locate the device. You can also use Find My iPhone to play a sound on your iPhone, remotely lock it and send a message, or, in a real pinch, remotely delete your data. The next few sections provide the details.

Remember:
The only drawback to Find My iPhone is that if someone else finds your iPhone, that person can easily turn off the feature and disable it. To prevent this, turn on the passcode lock as described earlier in this article. If your iPhone is already lost, use Find My iPhone on another iPhone, an iPad, or iCloud to remotely lock the iPhone, as described later in this article.

Activating Find My iPhone

Find My iPhone works by looking for a particular signal that your iPhone beams out into the ether. This signal is turned off by default, so you need to turn it on if you ever plan to use Find My iPhone. Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Add your iCloud account, if you haven't done so already. When you add the account, be sure to tap OK when iCloud asks if it can use your location.
  2. On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
  3. Tap iCloud. Your iCloud account settings appear.
  4. Tap the Find My iPhone switch to On. Your iPhone asks you to confirm.
  5. Tap Allow. Your iPhone activates the Find My iPhone feature.

With Find My iPhone now active on your iPhone, you can use the Find My iPhone app or iCloud to locate it at any time. The next two sections show you how to do this.

Locating your iPhone using the Find My iPhone app

Follow these steps to see your lost iPhone on a map using the Find My iPhone app:

  1. On an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that has the Find My iPhone app installed, tap the app to launch it. Find My iPhone prompts you to enter your Apple ID.
  2. Type your Apple e-mail address and password. Note that you must use the same Apple ID as the one you used to activate the Find My iPhone setting on your iPhone.
  3. Tap Go. The app signs in to your Apple account.
  4. Tap Devices.
  5. In the list of devices, tap your lost iPhone. The Find My iPhone app locates the iPhone on a map, as shown below.

    iPhone to Locate it on a Map

  6. To see if the location has changed, tap the Refresh Location button (the circular arrow).

Locating your iPhone using iCloud

Follow these steps to see your lost iPhone on a map using iCloud:

  1. Log in to your iCloud account.
  2. Click the Switch Apps icon (the cloud) and then click Find My iPhone. The iCloud Find My iPhone application appears.
  3. Click Devices. iCloud displays the My Devices list.
  4. Click your iPhone in the list. iCloud locates your iPhone on a map.
  5. To see if the location has changed, click the Refresh Location button (the circular arrow).

Getting an e-mail message when your iPhone comes online

Find My iPhone is only useful if you can, you know, find your iPhone. That won't happen if your iPhone is powered off or not connected to the Internet. You could keep refreshing the list of devices, but it could be hours before your iPhone comes online. To avoid a constant vigil, you can tell Find My iPhone to send an e-mail message to your iCloud account as soon as your iPhone comes online:

  1. Tap or click Devices. The My Devices list appears.
  2. Tap or click your iPhone in the devices list. Find My iPhone displays information about your iPhone.
  3. If Find My iPhone has no location data for your iPhone, select the Notify Me When Found check box.

Playing a sound on your iPhone

If you misplace your phone, the first thing you should try is calling your number using another phone so you can (hopefully!) hear it ringing. That might not work, however, because your phone might have the Ring/Silent option switched to silent mode, it might be in airplane mode, or you might not have another phone handy. In any case, you only get so many rings before the call goes to voicemail, so unless you locate your phone right away, calling your number isn't always the best solution.

Your next step when looking for a lost iPhone is to use Find My iPhone to play a sound on your phone. This sound plays even if your iPhone is in silent mode or airplane mode, and it plays loudly even if your iPhone has its volume turned down or muted. Here's how it works:

  1. Tap or click Devices. The My Devices list appears.
  2. Tap or click your iPhone in the devices list. Find My iPhone locates your iPhone on a map.
  3. Tap or click Play Sound. Find My iPhone begins playing the sound on your iPhone and it also displays the alert.
  4. When you find your iPhone (fingers crossed), tap the alert to silence the sound.

Remotely locking the data on your iPhone

If you can't find your iPhone right away by playing a sound, your next step should be to ensure that some other person who finds the phone can't rummage around in your stuff. You do that by putting your iPhone into lost mode, which remotely locks the iPhone and secures it with a 4-digit passcode. You can also provide a phone number where you can be reached and send a message for whoever finds your iPhone. Follow these steps to put your iPhone into lost mode:

  1. Tap or click Devices. The My Devices list appears.
  2. Tap or click your iPhone in the devices list. Find My iPhone locates your iPhone on a map.
  3. Tap or click Lost Mode. Find My iPhone displays the Lost Mode dialog.
  4. Tap or click the numbers in the keypad to enter a four-digit passcode. Find My iPhone asks you to type the passcode again.
  5. Reenter the four-digit passcode. Find My iPhone asks you to enter an optional phone number where you can be reached.
  6. Type your phone number and then click Next. Find My iPhone prompts you to type a message that will appear on the iPhone along with the phone number from Step 5.
  7. Type the message and then tap or click Done. Find My iPhone remotely locks the iPhone and displays the message, as shown below.
Find My iPhone displays your message on the Lock Screen

Remotely deleting the data on your iPhone

If you can't get the other person to return your iPhone and it contains sensitive or confidential data - or just that big chunk of your life I mentioned earlier - you can use the Find My iPhone app or the iCloud Find My iPhone feature to take the drastic step of remotely wiping all the data from your iPhone. Here's what you do:

  1. Tap or click Devices. The My Devices list appears.
  2. Tap or click your iPhone in the devices list. Find My iPhone locates your iPhone on a map.
  3. Tap or click Erase iPhone. Find My iPhone prompts you for your Apple ID password.
  4. Type your password and then tap or click Erase. Find My iPhone remotely wipes all data from the iPhone.
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In this tutorial:

  1. Configure My iPhone
  2. Working with App Notifications
  3. Useful iPhone Configuration Techniques
  4. Creating text shortcuts
  5. Protecting Your iPhone
  6. Locating and protecting a lost iPhone
  7. Enhancing Your iPhone with Apps