Anyone Can Identify a Found AirTag

If you happen across an AirTag in the wild, you’ll be able to scan it using NFC technology on any iPhone or Android smartphone to find out more information about it, and possibly reunite it with its owner.

Since this is designed to work from any NFC-capable device, this actually triggers a browser visit to “found.apple.com” rather than opening in the Find My app. Presumably the link will include a special URL that will take you directly to an information page.

What you’ll see here will depend on how the owner of the AirTag has set it up. As a minimum, you’ll get the serial number, but additional information will only be available if the owner has marked it as lost in their Find My app, in which case you’ll see whatever message they’ve specifically added, such as a contact phone number or email address.

Note that what appears in this case is entirely up to the owner of the AirTag. For privacy reasons, AirTags do not otherwise offer up any personal information, and when in “Lost Mode” they’ll simply display whatever text the owner has entered.

Keep in mind that since AirTags don’t have any Wi-Fi or cellular capabilities of their own, the tag itself may not know that it’s been placed in Lost Mode. Any modern iPhone, iPad, or MacBook that comes into contact with an AirTag can transmit this information from Apple’s Find My network — including the iPhone being used to scan the tag — but if an Android user finds an AirTag out in the woods, it may not have gotten the message that it’s supposed to be in Lost Mode.