How to locate iPhone offline?

How to locate offline iPhone 1
How to locate offline iPhone 1

Last updated: September 14, 2023

Who has never lost their phone at least once in their life? This feeling of "lack" related to an object that we use on a daily basis is very unpleasant because nothing is more annoying than losing or having your iPhone stolen.

Inside the latter, are all our photos, our contacts, our means of payment, our messages; in short, a large part of our digital life is held in the palm of our hand. So when we happen to lose it due to lack of attention or worse, to have it stolen, it's panic.

Fortunately, Apple has thought of everything, and offers us many solutions by default allowing us to locate our iPhone, even offline !

You will see different steps, such as setting up and preparing your phone first, and different ways to locate it later.

Let's go !

Part 1: How to configure your iPhone so that you can then locate it, even offline

Activate the geolocation service:

Beforehand, you will have to activate the geolocation service if you want to be able to find your iPhone via the “ Locate ».

To do this, here is how to do it in a few steps:

  • Go to " Settings ».
  • Then in " Policy ».
  • Press on " Location services And activate it.
  • Scroll down a bit and tap on the app “ Locate ».
  • Configure it as in point number 5 of this screenshot.

Setting up the Locate app

Before you can then find your phone, it is important to make sure that the "Find" function is activated on your iPhone. It may be that "by default" the latter is indeed disabled and if this is the case, then you will not be able to find your iPhone with iCloud.

  • On your iPhone, go to " Settings ».
  • Tap on your name or your account image (If you are not logged in, you will of course have to perform this action before going any further).
  • Finally, press " Locate »
  • You must have all 3 options selected, as in the image: Localiser mon iPhone "," Network locate "," Send last position ».

You are not required to activate the "Locate Network" feature, but be aware that since iOS 15, this will allow you to find your iPhone up to 24 hours after turning it off.

The option " Send last position » meanwhile, will send Apple your last location from the moment the battery charge becomes too low.

Part 2: Use iCloud.com to locate your lost or stolen phone

If you lost your iPhone and the battery is flat or if it was stolen, here's how locate his phone:

In case of loss :

You can go to iCloud.com, log in with your credentials, and access the " Locate ».

Then wait for your iPhone to be located, it should only take a few minutes.

Once it is found, you can click on the icon representing your phone on the map and this opens a menu:

From there, you have the choice:

  • To ring your phone, a ringtone will start to ring slowly then louder and louder
  • Activate the " Lost Mode »: You can block your iPhone remotely, leave a message for the person who will find it and even ask him to call you at another number. Payment with ApplePay will also be disabled.
  • « Erase iPhone will erase the iPhone.

In case of theft :

As Apple clearly states, don't play the hero and go to the police instead to file a complaint. The police will be able to find him.

Part 3: Find your iPhone with a friend or another phone

You also have the option of using the iPhone of one of your friends or a passerby, for example, to locate your phone.

Here are the steps for that:

  • Have someone launch the Find My app on their iPhone.
  • Press on " help a friend at the bottom of the screen as in the image below:
  • Enter your iCloud credentials.
  • You can now access the same search tools as for the previous part about searching with iCloud.

Part 4: What if your iPhone was turned off?

Since iOS 15, you should know that Apple has added a feature to find your iPhone despite the fact that it is off or even if it has run out of battery.

How is it possible ?

Well, if you have set up the "Find" function on your iPhone, it will send its last position to Apple's servers just before it runs out of battery or you turn it off.

You will therefore be able to find it using the methods seen previously and its last location.

Conclusion

You have seen through these different parts how to configure and find an iPhone. This is a really useful feature that has been built into all iPhones for several versions of iOS.

Recently, version 15 of iOS added the possibility of finding an iPhone even if the latter is offline thanks to Apple's "Localize Network".