Lost Phone, Wallet, or Keys? | Apple Tech to Quickly Locate Lost Items

If you’ve never lost any of your Apple devices, you’re truly an anomaly. Of course, it’s bound to happen at some point, but instead of panicking when the time does come, you can rest assured knowing that Apple has tech features to help you locate your lost items. That is, of course, if you take steps to prepare for the moment your device goes missing.

The first step you should take to ensure you can locate any lost device or item is to turn on Find My. Once it is enabled, not only will you be able to track your iPhone, but you also can track paired AirPods, Apple Watch, or even a personal item if it has an AirTag attached.

How to Turn on Find My

Start by turning on Find My on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap your name, then tap Find My.
3. Turn on Share My Location if you would like friends and family to be able to see your location.
4. Tap Find My [device], then toggle on Find My [device].

After it’s enabled, you’ll be able to sign in to your Apple ID on another Apple device in the Find My app to track the lost device.

Find My features vary depending on the device. For example, here are the features you can access for a lost Mac or Apple Watch:

• View Location
• Play a Sound
• Mark as Lost
• Remote Erase
• Notify When Found

Find Devices with Apple Watch

With the latest version of watchOS, you can use the Find Devices or Find Items apps on your Apple Watch to locate your lost or misplaced device easily. In order to find the device, it must be connected to your Apple ID.

Find Devices App

Once you open the Find Devices app on your Watch, if the device can be located, it will appear on the map, and you can see its location, the device’s approximate distance, time of last connection to Wi-Fi or cellular, and charge level. If the device is nearby, you can play a sound to locate it or even get directions to it.

If the device cannot be located for whatever reason, you’ll see “No location” under the device’s name. However, you can receive a notification if it is ever located when you turn on Notify When Found under Notifications.

Find Items App

While the Find Devices app is simply for finding devices, the Find Items app is meant for locating a lost AirTag or personal items with an AirTag attached. This app works the exact same as Find Devices; just remember you will only be able to locate the item if the AirTag is registered to your Apple ID.

Trackable iPhone Wallet

This September, Apple debuted an updated version of its MagSafe leather wallet that supports Find My on all iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models, allowing you to be notified of your wallet’s last location if it is ever separated from you.

Here’s how to set up Find My for your MagSafe wallet:

1. Attach the MagSafe? Wallet to the back of your iPhone to magnetically secure the wallet in place.
2. You’ll see a notification pop up saying that your ?Find My? accessory has been recognized.
3. Follow the instructions to set up the wallet and add it to ?Find My?.
4. Tap View in ?Find My?, and you’ll be able to see locate your wallet on the map.

You should also take advantage of the Notify When Detached option if you would like to get an alert if the wallet falls off.

Track Your Keys, Wallet, Etc. with AirTags

Apple introduced AirTags back in April of this year, which helps users locate any personal items that have an AirTag attached, such as Keys.

Once again, you must use the Find My app to locate your AirTags and have the option to make it ping, find it on a map, or get directions to it. However, one unique feature that comes with AirTags is Precision Finding, which can pinpoint the exact location of the item if it is nearby, as long as you have any model of the iPhone 11, 12, or 13.

If you are someone who tends to lose personal items frequently, you probably should consider purchasing AirTags.