Turn Off Find My to Safely Upgrade Your iPhone Today

At Apple’s recent “awe dropping” event on September 9, the company unveiled the sleek new iPhone Air, available for purchase now. If you’re considering an upgrade, it’s crucial to disable Find My on your old iPhone first.

Find My is an invaluable tool for locating your personal items, such as luggage at a busy airport, or even pinpointing a single missing AirPod. However, before parting ways with your old iPhone, turning off Find My deactivates the Activation Lock feature. This feature is designed to prevent unauthorized use of the device, which is especially useful in cases of theft. But if you’re passing your iPhone to a friend, Activation Lock could hinder their ability to use the device. Thankfully, turning off Find My is a straightforward process.

Here’s a simple guide to turning off Find My before you part with your old iPhone.

How to Turn Off Find My

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap your name at the top of the menu.
3. Select Find My.
4. Tap Find My iPhone.
5. In the resulting menu, toggle off Find My iPhone.

Once you’ve done this, your iPhone should be ready for its new owner. However, if you have Stolen Device Protection enabled, you may not be able to turn off Find My. If that’s the case, you’ll need to disable Stolen Device Protection first.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Select Face ID & Passcode (you may need to enter your Passcode here).
3. Tap on Stolen Device Protection.
4. Toggle off Stolen Device Protection.

After disabling Stolen Device Protection, you can follow the previous steps to turn off Find My. Before handing over your iPhone, don’t forget to factory reset the device to erase your personal information. It’s essential to ensure your data doesn’t fall into anyone else’s hands.

For more insights on iOS, check out my review of iOS 26, learn how to enable call and text screening, and explore all the exciting new ringtones available on your iPhone. You might also want to peek at our iOS 26 cheat sheet.