Find My Friends stops updating when location services are off, background app refresh is disabled, or the app needs a restart
Find My Friends (now part of the Find My app on newer iPhones) relies on constant location tracking to show where your friends are. If the app stops updating their location, the problem is almost always one of three things: your location services are turned off entirely, background app refresh is disabled for Find My, or the app is stuck and needs to be closed and reopened. Less often, the person you're tracking has turned off location sharing on their end, or their phone doesn't have a strong enough internet connection.
The good news is that none of these require technical knowledge to fix. You can work through them in about five minutes.
Key Takeaways
- Location services must be turned on in Settings, and Find My must have permission to use your location at all times, not just while using the app.
- Background App Refresh must be enabled both globally and specifically for the Find My app, or it cannot update locations when the app is closed.
- Restarting the Find My app by force-closing it and reopening it fixes most temporary freezing or stuck updates.
- If someone's location stops updating, ask them to check that location sharing is still turned on for you in their Find My settings.
- A weak internet connection on either phone can prevent location updates, so check WiFi or cellular signal strength.
Turn on location services and give Find My permission
Find My cannot work at all without location services enabled on your iPhone. Open Settings, tap Privacy & Security, then tap Location Services. The toggle at the top must be green. If it is gray, tap it to turn location services on.
Next, scroll down in that same Location Services screen and find Find My in the list. Tap it. You will see three options: Never, While Using, and Always. Select Always. This tells your phone to share your location with Find My even when you are not actively using the app — which is how your friends can see where you are when you are not looking at your phone.
If Find My is set to While Using or Never, your location will only update when you have the app open, and your friends will see an old or blank location the rest of the time.
Enable background app refresh for Find My
Even with location services on, Find My needs permission to refresh in the background. Without this, the app cannot check for new location data when it is closed. Go to Settings, tap General, then tap Background App Refresh. Make sure the toggle at the top is green.
Then scroll down and find Find My in the list. The toggle next to it must also be green. If it is gray, tap it to turn it on. This setting allows Find My to update locations periodically, even when you are using a different app or your phone is locked.
Force-close and reopen the Find My app
Sometimes Find My gets stuck and stops updating even though all the settings are correct. The fastest fix is to close the app completely and open it again. Swipe up from the bottom of your screen (or swipe down from the top right on older iPhones) to open the app switcher. Find the Find My card, swipe up on it to close it, then tap the Find My icon on your home screen to reopen it.
Wait a few seconds after opening. The app should refresh and show updated locations. If locations still are not changing after 30 seconds, the problem is likely on the other person's phone or with their connection.
Check that the other person has location sharing turned on
If one specific friend's location is not updating but others are, the problem is on their end. Ask them to open Find My, tap the People tab, find your name, and make sure location sharing is turned on. If they have turned it off, you will see "Location Not Available" instead of their location.
They should also check their own location services and background app refresh settings using the steps above. If their phone has low battery mode on, location updates may be delayed or paused. Ask them to check Settings > Battery to see if Low Power Mode is active.
Verify internet connection strength on both phones
Find My needs an active internet connection to send and receive location updates. If either phone is on weak WiFi or has poor cellular signal, updates will be slow or stop entirely. Ask your friend to check their WiFi or cellular signal bars. If they are in a dead zone or on a network that is dropping packets, location updates will not go through.
If you are the one not seeing updates, check your own connection. Open a web browser and load a website to confirm you have internet. If the page loads slowly or not at all, your phone cannot send location requests to Apple's servers.
Restart your iPhone if nothing else works
If you have checked all the settings above and locations still are not updating, restart your iPhone. Press and hold the side button and either volume button until the power-off slider appears. Drag it to turn off your phone, wait 10 seconds, then press and hold the side button again until you see the Apple logo.
A restart clears temporary glitches that can prevent location services from working correctly. After your phone restarts, open Find My again and wait 30 seconds for locations to refresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Find My show "Location Not Available" for someone?
That person has turned off location sharing for you, or they have disabled location services on their phone entirely. Ask them to open Find My, go to the People tab, find your name, and turn location sharing back on. They should also check that location services is enabled in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
Can I see someone's location if they don't have Find My open?
Yes, as long as they have location services and background app refresh turned on. Find My updates locations in the background, so you can see where someone is even when they are using a different app or their phone is locked. If you cannot see their location, the problem is usually that background app refresh is off on their phone.
Does Find My update location in real time?
No. Find My updates locations every few minutes, not continuously. The exact timing depends on how much data Apple's servers are handling and how strong the internet connection is. In most cases, you will see an updated location within one to three minutes of someone moving to a new place.
What if someone turns off location sharing — will they know I was tracking them?
They will not receive a notification that you were looking at their location. However, when they turn off location sharing, you will see "Location Not Available" in the app. They will know you can no longer see them, but they will not know when you last checked.
Can I turn off location sharing for one person but keep it on for others?
Yes. Open Find My, go to the People tab, tap the person's name, and toggle off "Share My Location". You can do this for individual people while keeping location sharing on for everyone else. The person will see "Location Not Available" when they try to find you.