How to turn off Find My iPhone before you sell or repair it

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Short answer

Open Settings, tap your name, tap Find My and tap Find My iPhone. Switch Find My iPhone off and enter your Apple Account password. This also removes Activation Lock, so the next owner or the repair shop can use the phone.

Find My iPhone locks the phone to your Apple Account. That is the point of it while the phone is yours, and a problem when it changes hands: a phone with Activation Lock cannot be set up by anyone else. Repair shops often ask you to switch it off as well.

Menu names are from recent versions of iOS.

Step by step

  1. Open Settings and tap your name

    Your name is at the top of the list.

  2. Tap Find My

    Then tap Find My iPhone at the top.

  3. Switch off Find My iPhone

    Enter your Apple Account password and tap Turn Off. Activation Lock is removed at the same moment.

  4. If Stolen Device Protection is on

    The iPhone asks for Face ID or Touch ID and, away from familiar places, makes you wait an hour before the change. Do this at home before you leave for the shop.

  5. When selling: erase the phone instead

    You do not need to switch Find My off separately. Open Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, Erase All Content and Settings. The iPhone asks for your Apple Account password, turns off Find My and signs you out. See how to factory reset an iPhone.

  6. If you no longer have the phone

    Sign in at icloud.com/find, select the iPhone and choose Remove This Device. Do this only for a phone you have sold or given away. For a lost or stolen phone, leave Find My on and mark it as lost.

Good to know

Switch Find My back on after a repair: same place, same switch.

A buyer of a used iPhone should see the Hello screen when switching it on. If it asks for someone else's Apple Account, hand it back.

What Find My is good for: how to find a lost iPhone.

Before you hand the phone over, back it up: how to back up an iPhone to iCloud.

In short: Settings, your name, Find My, Find My iPhone, off, Apple Account password. For a sale, Erase All Content and Settings does it for you.

Sources
  • Apple Support: Turn off Find My on your devices and items

Rules and prices change. Check the official source before you act.