I need to pause Find My iPhone tracking shortly but keep it enabled overall. Can anyone explain how to do this without completely turning it off? I want to ensure my device’s location isn’t viewable temporarily for personal reasons.
Oh, you want to go all spy-movie mode and vanish from “Find My iPhone,” huh? Well, here’s the deal—if you’re looking to temporarily pause it without shutting it off completely, the easiest way is to disable your internet connection. That means turning off Wi-Fi and cellular data. Why? Because Find My iPhone works by pinging your location through either of those. Without a connection, it can’t update your spot. Classic ‘if-you-don’t-see-me-I-don’t-exist’ logic, right?
But here’s the catch: losing your iPhone’s internet connection means it won’t be trackable at all until you turn connectivity back on. So, if you misplace your phone, you’re totally on your own. Like, old-school, actual-manual-search-level alone.
Other ideas? Turn on Airplane Mode. It cuts off all signals, so Find My iPhone does zilch for a while. Just know if someone’s actively trying to track you during this time (
), they’ll see it as “no location available.” Not suspicious… at all.
If this is for “personal reasons” and you’re trying to dodge location-sharing with certain people, you can also go to Find My > Me, then toggle off Share My Location. But that might make them ask questions if they notice. Use it wisely, secret agent.
Anyway, don’t forget to turn everything back on when you’re done. Enjoy your private moment of Gone Girl!
Turning off Wi-Fi and cellular data or enabling Airplane Mode, like @espritlibre suggested, definitely works, but let’s be honest—Airplane Mode screams suspicious, especially if someone’s already tracking you. If you’re trying to fly under the radar (pun intended) without raising those “what are you hiding?” eyebrows, there’s another way.
Head to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and toggle it off temporarily. This stops all apps, including Find My, from accessing your location. Technically, Find My iPhone will still be enabled, but it just won’t update your location since you’re withholding data. The downside? ALL apps lose access to location, so if you’re using maps or anything similar, well… good luck navigating using guesswork.
Alternatively, for iOS 15+, you can get more specific. Go back to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, find Find My in the list, and set its access to “Never” (just remember to switch it back to “While Using” or “Always” afterward). That way, Find My is silenced without nuking location services for everything else.
But let’s not pretend hiding your location won’t trigger questions if someone’s checking. People notice. If you’ve got nosy folks monitoring your whereabouts, maybe just reconsider who has access to see your location in the first place. Less drama, more peace.