What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens and Apple's iOS 27 guide.

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-show-the-location-arrow-in-the-iphone-status-bar/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

In this guide

Open Settings and tap Privacy & Security
Tap Location Services
Scroll down and tap System Services
Scroll to the bottom and switch on Status Bar Icon
Check the status bar
If a switch will not move: check Screen Time
Check the Location Services row
If you do not see this option
If this does not work
Good to know
Video demo
Sources

Quick answer

Open Settings, tap Privacy & Security, then Location Services, then System Services, scroll to the bottom and switch on Status Bar Icon. The location arrow then appears in the status bar when system services request your location.

If you do not see this option

Status Bar Icon is not with the other switches It is not in the main list of services. On our iPhone 17e it was the last row on the System Services page, below Product Improvement. Apple gives the path as Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, System Services. Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone · Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27)
System Services is not near the top It comes after all the apps. On our iPhone 17e it was the last row, below Wallet.
On iOS 26 Apple gives the same path: Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, System Services. Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone · Source: Control the location information you share on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26) · Source: Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27)

7 of 7 steps with real screenshots · 4 official sources below

Device: iPhone
Shown on: iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)
App: Settings
Path: Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › System Services
Real screenshots: 7 of 7 steps
Checked: October 2026
Sources: 4 official, linked below

Step by step

Open Settings and tap Privacy & Security
Scroll down in Settings. On our iPhone 17e it is below Face ID & Passcode and Emergency SOS, and above Game Center.
Watch these steps Done
Tap Location Services
It is the first row under the Privacy & Security heading, above Tracking. On our iPhone 17e it read 2 while using below the name.
Done
Scroll down and tap System Services
It is the last row of the list of apps. On our iPhone 17e it was below Wallet, and a purple arrow next to it showed that a system service had recently used the location.
Done
Scroll to the bottom and switch on Status Bar Icon
It sits on its own at the very bottom, below Product Improvement and the key to the purple and grey arrows. On our iPhone 17e it was off; Improve Location Accuracy, iPhone Analytics and Routing & Traffic were on and Improve Maps was off.
The note under it reads: Show the Location Services icon in the status bar when the services above request your location.
Done
Check the status bar
When a system service requests your location, the arrow appears next to the time. In our screenshot, taken just after switching it on, no service was asking for the location, so no arrow showed yet: it appears only while one does.
Done
If a switch will not move: check Screen Time
Open Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions and scroll to the bottom. On our iPhone 17e, Privacy Restrictions had a single row, Allow Changes to Settings. Tap it.
Done
Check the Location Services row
On our iPhone 17e, Location Services was set to Allow, between Driving Focus and Microphone.
A Don't Allow here would explain switches that will not move.
Done

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens and Apple's iOS 27 guide.

Watch these steps

The video loads from YouTube when you press play.

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If this does not work

The arrow does not appear The switch only shows the arrow when a system service actually requests your location, as the note under it says. Apps that use your location show the arrow anyway.
The switches will not move Screen Time may be locking Location Services. Step 6 shows where to check.

About this guide

When an app uses Location Services, an arrow appears in the status bar. For the system's own services, that arrow is off unless you switch it on. The System Services page also marks each service that used your location: a purple arrow for recently, a grey arrow for the last 24 hours.

Screenshots: iPhone 17e, iOS 27.0.1, dark mode.