Can I find my iPhone when the battery is dead?

Sometimes when an iOS device goes missing, the Find My app (Find My iPhone before iOS 13) helps to locate and recover the device. Ideally, the battery on the lost iPhone has enough juice for iCloud to track the location live.

In some cases, the lost device has a dead battery or is simply turned off. So does Find My still work? Live tracking will not work, but Find My may still be able to lead you to your missing phone by showing you its last known location.

Instead of a green circle on a map identifying the iPhone's current location, the last known location of the iOS device will be displayed by a grey circle.

last known location
Clicking the grey circle, then clicking the information icon (i) will provide more details, including the last time the device was seen at this location. Unless the lost device is plugged in to charge, the current location cannot be found.

Make sure your iPhone delivers its last known location before the battery dies. Send Last Location is normally enabled by default. You can toggle Send Last Location under Settings (iOS 13 and later):

  1. Navigate to Settings -> Apple ID -> Find My -> Find My iPhone
  2. Toggle Send Last Location -> ON (green switch)
Find My Settings

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Comments

izzy replied on

I lost my iPhone 5c yesterday. The phone is out of charge and it isn't coming up on find my friends or find my iPhone. Is the any other possible way of me tracking it because I really need it.

jamesboucher replied on

My iphone is dead and i think someone stole it. on my mums ipad it has my phone on there but it says the phone is offline, is there anyway to find it again.

jamesboucher replied on

My iphone is dead and i think someone stole it. on my mums ipad it has my phone on there but it says the phone is offline, is there anyway to find it again.

Alex Lennon replied on

Hi I lost my Iphone 6 today and I am really worried it has no case how do I find it??, it is still in my house

Anonymous01 replied on

I lost my iPhone 8 hours ago when I woke up. I thought I dropped it in the parking lot on my way home. Thank God, I found it through the use of my iPad and Find My IPhone app installed on both. It found it underneath my sofa after it fell while I was asleep. I made a slit at one edge of the underneath cover of the sofa to retrieve it. It rang after I turned on the Find My Iphone app in my IPad. It’s good to have at least two apple devices, with the app installed on both so it can track each other. I never thought I could track it that way. Was my the first time. I did it after I googled how to track. Luckily, I have two devices linked to each other. I learned my lessons.

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