What "No Location Found" means and why it happens

Find My shows "No Location Found" when your device cannot reach the person or device you are looking for, or when location sharing has been turned off. This is not a glitch — it is the app telling you that either the target device is not sending its location, or your device cannot receive that signal right now.

The most common reason is that the other person has disabled location sharing in their Find My settings, either for everyone or just for you. The second most common reason is that their device does not have an active internet connection — Find My needs either Wi-Fi or cellular data to transmit location. A third possibility is that their device is powered off, in airplane mode, or has location services turned off entirely at the system level.

Less often, the message appears because of a temporary network outage on Apple's servers, or because the device is in a location with no signal at all. If someone's phone is in a basement, a parking garage, or a remote area with no coverage, Find My cannot pinpoint it.

Key Takeaways

  • The person or device you are searching for must have location sharing turned on in their Find My settings, and it must be shared with you specifically.
  • Their device needs an active internet connection — either Wi-Fi or cellular data — to send location information to your phone.
  • If their device is in airplane mode, powered off, or has location services disabled at the system level, Find My cannot locate it.
  • Ask the person directly whether they have turned off location sharing, because that is the fastest way to rule out the most common cause.

Check whether location sharing is actually turned on

Start by asking the person directly: "Do you have location sharing turned on for me in Find My?" This sounds obvious, but it is the fastest way to rule out the most common reason. Many people turn off location sharing without realizing it affects Find My searches.

If you have access to their device, you can check yourself. On an iPhone or iPad, open the Find My app, tap the People tab, and look for your name in the list. If you see your name with a green dot next to it, location sharing is on. If your name does not appear in the list at all, or appears with a gray dot, location sharing is off or has been turned off for you specifically.

On a Mac, open the Find My app, click People in the sidebar, and look for your name. The same rule applies: a green dot means location sharing is active.

Verify the device has internet connectivity

Find My requires either Wi-Fi or cellular data to work. If the device is connected to neither, the app cannot send location information, and you will see "No Location Found."

Ask the person whether their device is connected to Wi-Fi or has cellular service. If they are on Wi-Fi, ask them to check whether the connection is actually working — sometimes a device shows a Wi-Fi icon but has lost the actual connection. They can test this by opening a web browser and trying to load a website.

If their device is in airplane mode, location sharing will not work. Airplane mode disables all wireless radios, including the ones needed to send location data. Ask them to turn off airplane mode if they have it enabled.

Confirm location services are enabled on their device

Location services is a system-level setting that must be turned on for Find My to work at all. Even if location sharing is enabled in the Find My app, if location services is off at the system level, no location data will be sent.

On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap Privacy & Security, then tap Location Services. Make sure the toggle at the top is green (on). Then scroll down and find Find My in the list. Tap it and make sure it is set to "Always" or "While Using".

On a Mac, open System Settings, click Privacy & Security in the sidebar, then click Location Services. Make sure the checkbox next to Location Services is checked. Then find Find My in the list below and make sure it is allowed.

Check whether the device is powered on and reachable

If the device is powered off, Find My cannot locate it. The same applies if the device has been in a location with no cellular or Wi-Fi signal for an extended period — it may take several minutes to reconnect and update its location once it regains connectivity.

Ask the person whether their device is turned on. If it is, ask them to restart it. A restart often fixes temporary connection issues that prevent location data from being sent. Have them hold down the power button, slide to power off, wait 10 seconds, then turn it back on.

If the device is in a location with no signal — a basement, a parking garage, or a remote area — Find My will not be able to locate it until it moves to an area with coverage.

Restart Find My on your own device

Sometimes the problem is not with the other device, but with your own. If Find My is not receiving location updates properly, restarting the app often fixes it.

On an iPhone or iPad, swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or swipe down from the top right on newer models) to open Control Center. Find the Find My icon and press and hold it. Tap the X to close it. Then open the Find My app again from your home screen.

On a Mac, quit Find My entirely by pressing Command+Q while the app is open. Wait 10 seconds, then open Find My again from the Applications folder or Launchpad.

Verify Apple's servers are not experiencing an outage

Rarely, Apple's location services experience temporary outages that affect all users. You can check whether this is happening by visiting Apple's System Status page at support.apple.com/en-us/HT213460. Look for Find My in the list and check whether it shows a green checkmark (all systems operational) or a yellow or red indicator (service degradation or outage).

If an outage is listed, there is nothing you can do on your end — you will need to wait for Apple to restore service. This usually takes less than an hour, but check back on the status page to confirm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the other person get notified when I search for them in Find My?

No. When you search for someone in Find My, they do not receive a notification that you looked for them. However, they can see in their Find My settings that location sharing with you is active, and they can turn it off at any time.

Can I see someone's location if they have turned off location sharing?

No. If someone has disabled location sharing for you, Find My will show "No Location Found" and there is no way to see their location through the app. Some third-party apps claim to track location without the user's knowledge, but they require the target device to have those apps installed and configured, and they violate Apple's terms of service.

What if the person is using an Android phone?

Find My only works with Apple devices — iPhones, iPads, and Macs. If the person you are trying to locate uses an Android phone, Find My cannot see it. You would need to use Google's Find My Mobile service instead, which is Google's equivalent for Android devices.

Why does Find My sometimes show a location but then say "No Location Found" a few minutes later?

This usually means the device lost its internet connection. Find My shows the last known location for a short time, then clears it if the device does not reconnect within a few minutes. Ask the person to check their Wi-Fi or cellular connection and restart their device if needed.

Can I use Find My if the other person has their phone on silent or do not disturb?

Yes. Silent mode and do not disturb mode do not affect location sharing. Find My works regardless of whether notifications are muted. The only settings that matter are location services, location sharing in Find My, and internet connectivity.