Learn how to use various Find My services on your Apple Watch to track friends, locate AirTags and other items, remotely wipe devices, and more.
Aside from the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, and iCloud.com, Apple also offers a slimmed-down version of the Find My app on the Apple Watch. Here’s how to track people, beep devices, activate Lost Mode, and more—right from your wrist.
Find My on Apple Watch is 3 distinct apps
Find My is a single app on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iCloud.com. On the Apple Watch, however, Find My is actually three separate apps, each focusing on specific tasks. They’re called Find Devices, Find Items, and Find People.
Find Devices
With the Find Devices app., you can view the location of your or a family member’s lost or misplaced devices, beep them if they’re nearby or to alert others, turn on Lost Mode, and manage notifications for when a device is left behind or found.
Find Item
The Find Item app is designed for accessories like AirTags and compatible third-party trackers that participate in the Find My network. You can view their locations on a map, get directions, beep them, activate Lost Mode, manage left behind and found notifications, and more. The app also lets you check an item’s battery charge remotely and view other information, such as the serial number and firmware version.
Find People
The Find People app is focused on tracking friends and family members who share their live location with you. Use it to view their locations on a map, manage sharing, and more. You can optionally choose to receive a notification on your wrist when a person is nearby or has left their location.
Set up Find My on your Apple Watch
The Find My Watch and Find My network features are activated automatically on the watch when you turn on Find My on your paired iPhone. To verify, follow these steps:
1) Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
2) Tap your Apple account at the top.
3) Scroll down and select your watch from the list of devices. If Find My Watch is turned on, you’ll see “On” below the switch.
4) If Find My Watch is turned off, open the Settings app on the iPhone and select your Apple account at the top, then navigate to Find My > Find My iPhone and turn it on there. Be sure to check that your action is also reflected on the watch.
Find Devices app
Follow these steps to locate your own or family members’ Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, and more.
1) Open the Find Devices app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select one of your listed devices. To choose a family member’s device instead, scroll to the bottom and tap ‘Show Family Devices.’
If the device is online, you’ll see its location on a mini-map along with the remaining battery charge, as illustrated by a tiny battery icon. Scroll below to see when the device was last online and its approximate distance from your current location, then hit the Directions button to navigate there using Apple Maps. You can also hit Play Sound to beep the device to help you find it if it’s nearby (or to alert others).
If the device is offline or the Find My network is experiencing hiccups (check via Apple’s System Status page), you’ll see “No location” or “Address Unavailable,” and the Directions button will be greyed out. The same messages may appear if a misplaced or lost Apple device has been offline for too long.
The Find My network allows iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, AirPods, AirTags, and supported third-party trackers to update their location even when powered off or in Airplane Mode by communicating with other nearby devices via Bluetooth. This increases the likelihood of finding a stolen device even if a thief has powered it off or activated Airplane Mode to cut off internet access. If your device has been offline for a while, turn on the “Notify When Found” switch (explained below) to get notified when it’s back online.
Find Items app
The Find Items app lets you track your AirTags and compatible third-party trackers.
1) Open the Find Items app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select your AirTag or a compatible third-party tracker.
3) Scroll down and tap “Show Shared Items” to view any AirTags and other items shared with family or friends.
4) Check information like the item’s distance, battery status, and more, similar to what we mentioned in the Find Devices section above.
Find People app
You can track family members and friends using the Find My app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. On your Apple Watch, you must use the built-in Find People app instead.
1) Open the Find People app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select a person’s name.
3) You’ll see their location on a mini-map and when it was last updated. To stop sharing your location with them, tap the “Stop Sharing” button at the bottom. Conversely, choose Share My Location to share your live location with a person.
Beep a device
You can beep an iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, AirTags, or third-party tracker to locate it if it’s nearby. This can also alert other people who may be passing by.
1) Open the Find Devices or Find Items app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select your Apple device or third-party tracker.
3) Scroll down and tap the Play Sound button.
If the device is online (connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data), it’ll play a loud sound for two minutes. AirTags and other trackers that don’t connect to the internet directly must be within Bluetooth range (10 meters or 33 feet) for this to work. You can beep AirPods and Beats headphones from your wrist, provided they’re connected to your Apple Watch via Bluetooth. If you think a lost iPhone may be close, ping it instead or have it flash the LED light to help you find it, especially at night.
Turn on separation alerts
Your Apple Watch can ping you on the wrist if you’ve left your iPhone behind, like on a restaurant table. You can also set up separation alerts for other Apple devices, such as iPads, Macs, AirPods, and AirTags.
1) Open the Find Devices or Find Items app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select your iPhone, iPad, AirPods, or other listed device.
3) Scroll down and turn on the switch labeled Notify When Left Behind. Trusted locations, like your home and office, are excluded from this feature. But if you’d like to receive a separation alert even when you leave a device at home, select that location in the Except At section and choose Remove on the next screen.
Get notified when a device is found
If a lost device has been offline for a while and stopped reporting its location (No Location Found), follow these steps to get notified when it’s back online.
1) Open the Find Device or Find Items app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select an offline device that no longer reports its location.
3) Turn on the Notify When Found switch (unavailable for online devices) to receive a notificaiton when this device comes back online and reports its location directly to the Find My network or to another nearby device via Bluetooth, which will then relay its location to the Find My network.
Get location alerts for people
You can notify people of your departure or arrival, and receive alerts when they leave their location or arrive at yours, provided you’re sharing your live location with them.
- Open the Find People app on your Apple Watch and select a person.
- Scroll down to the Notification section and tap Notify Me or Notify Person.
- Turn on the “Notify” switch on the next screen and select a suitable option.
For transparency and privacy reasons, Find My will send a notification to the person to inform them that you’ve turned on live location sharing.
Activate Lost Mode
Lost Mode locks a misplaced or stolen device, displays a custom message with a phone number on its screen (so the finder can contact you), and disables Apple Pay. The device continues reporting its location in Lost Mode.
1) Open the Find Device or Find Items app on your Apple Watch.
2) Select a lost Apple device (iPhone, iPad, Mac), or your AirTags or a compatible third-party tracker. Lost Mode is unavailable for the AirPods.
3) Scroll to the bottom and turn on the Lost Mode switch. For Apple computers, the switch is labeled Lock This Mac.
4) Optionally, choose to display your contact information in the Phone Number section. Otherwise, tap Skip.
You cannot create a custom Lost Mode message on the watch. For that, turn on Lost Mode using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Once you’ve retrieved your lost device, you’ll need to enter its passcode to turn Lost Mode off. Also, you may be asked to enter your Apple account password to re-authenticate the device.
No location displayed?
Sometimes your Apple Watch will not display location even if a device is nearby, online, and connected to the Internet, or you may see an old location instead. Also, you may be unable to put an online device in Lost Mode or beep it. In that case, try these tips:
- Restart your Apple Watch a few times.
- Place the watch on its charger and check that it’s connected to the internet.
- Check that your Apple Watch is running the latest version of the watchOS software. Connect the device to the internet via Wi-Fi, then open the Settings app and navigate to General > Software Update.
- Check Apple’s System Status page for eventual Find My downtime.
- Try locating a device using the Find My web app at iCloud.com/find.
What has your experience been like with the Find My services on your Apple Watch?