Mark Something as Lost
Find My lets you mark items as lost to help in recovering items you can’t find or might be stolen. Marking something as lost puts the hardware into a special “Lost Mode” and lets you provide details to someone finding it—or even a thief you want to encourage to return it. This information is available differently (or not at all) based on the kind of thing that’s marked as lost:
Devices: For devices, you can enter text (such as offering a reward) and provide your phone number. Both appear on the device.
Audio hardware without a screen: AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max can be marked as lost. However, because they lack a display, you can’t provide information to someone finding them. (Support for this started in iOS 15.1/iPadOS 15.1.)
AirTags and other items: With a Find My item—like AirTags or a Pebblebee Card—you can provide your phone number or email address; Apple prefills the message “This item has been lost. Please call me.” This information appears on a webpage associated with the device that a finder can retrieve as described in Get Info from a Found Find My Item.
Because devices have screens, marking a device as lost puts the finder on notice that you know approximately where it is—they can see that from the lock screen. Were your hardware stolen, this is a way to tell a thief that you have their location, and advise them to give it up.
With supported Apple audio hardware or a Find My item, it’s trickier, as a finder has to take additional steps to determine its status rather than looking at a screen or receiving an alert—although they will hear an item make a sound or sounds in certain circumstances: see Unwanted Tracking via Find My Items for those cases.
In the next three sections I break down marking devices as lost in the native Find My apps, marking devices as lost in the iCloud.com Find Devices app (useful when you can’t get to a native app), and marking items as lost in a native Find My app (the only option).
Mark a Device as Lost in a Find My App
When a device is marked as lost, the device is locked and can be unlocked only with a passcode (see provisos below). Apple Pay is disabled and all your associated cards are temporarily suspended.
The Lost Mode option in the Find My native apps requires these steps:
Tap or click Activate beneath Mark as Lost, except in watchOS, where you tap the Lost Mode button.
Apple explains a huge array of details to you in a screen labeled Lost Mode (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods [3rd generation], AirPods Pro, AirPods Max), or “Lock this Mac?” (Figure 58). Tap or click Continue to proceed or Cancel to back out.
Enter a passcode if prompted and verify it:
If an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch doesn’t have a passcode set—as unlikely as that seems—you are prompted to enter and verify a passcode.
For a Mac, you’re ostensibly required to set a six-digit passcode that’s used only for unlocking in addition to any macOS account login password. However, this hasn’t worked for me or anyone I know since before Monterey, despite Apple continuing to document it as a requirement; see Apple Broke Lost Mode in Monterey, below.
Figure 58: You can track and add info to an item marked as lost. (The iOS dialog is divided and placed side by side due to length.) On devices other than Macs or supported audio devices, optionally set a phone number for a call back (Figure 59). On an iPhone, a finder can call only that number. On other devices, the call-back number is displayed. Tap or click Next.
Figure 59: You can opt to enter a call-back number. Optionally, for devices that offer it, enter a message that will appear on the device (Figure 60). In this step, the dialog shows that a passcode has already been set and will be used to lock the device. Tap or click Next.
Figure 60: Choose to add a message. Tap or click Enable or Activate for anything but a Mac; tap or click Lock for a Mac.
After you activate Lost Mode, the action is passed to the device if it’s online, and an email message is sent to the address for the Apple ID account for the device, confirming what you’ve done. You will also receive email updates about changes to Lost Mode to that address. Devices with batteries will be placed in low-power mode. On an iPhone, emergency service calls remain available.
You can disable Lost Mode in three different ways:
iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, or AirPods Pro or AirPods Max in the Find My app: Select the device and tap or click Turn Off Lost Mode, except in watchOS, where you tap the Lost Mode button and disable Lost Mode. Find My prompts you with a warning that explains the device will remain locked, but the information you entered (phone number and message) as well its location history will be deleted (Figure 61). When you recover a device with a screen, you will have to enter its passcode; Touch ID or Face ID will be disabled if they were previously turned on.
Figure 61: You can disable Lost Mode in Find My for mobile devices. iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch with the device in hand: If you recover the device, you can enter your passphrase.
Macs (Big Sur and earlier): To re-enable a Mac, you first enter the passcode you set via Find My correctly, which unlocks the Mac, and then log in with a macOS account. If you use FileVault, you have to use a FileVault-enabled account to continue. See How Mark As Lost Should Work with a Mac.
Macs (Monterey and later): Apple appears to have broken its system for locking a Mac starting in Monterey. See Apple Broke Lost Mode in Monterey.
Once Lost Mode is disabled, and once you have access to your device with a screen, the operating system will prompt you to re-enter your Apple ID password once or twice.
You may be prompted for two-factor authentication as well. For accounts using code-based verification, you will have to use a trusted device other than the one you have in hand or a trusted phone number to validate your login. With a hardware security key, it’s already independent and can simply be used if you’re prompted; you may be asked to use code-based verification, however. If you’re prompted a second time for your Apple ID password, no second factor appears to be required. (In a recent test, I was prompted once and didn’t require my second factor.)
Mark as Lost immediately disables Apple’s side of Apple Pay for a lost device. Thus, if you mark your device as lost, Apple will not approve even an offline transaction made by someone who has the device passcode! This may result in a flurry of “card deactivated” emails and texts from your credit card companies and banks as well as an email alert from Apple confirming that (Figure 62).
If you have Wallet enabled in Settings > Account Name > iCloud for in iOS/iPad or the Wallet & Apple Pay preference pane in macOS, when you unlock your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, when you re-enter your Apple ID password as above, your cards are re-synced and activated. This will result in a similar flurry of “card reactivated” messages. Without Wallet sync, you have to re-enter cards you want to use for Apple Pay manually.
Mark a Device as Lost in the iCloud Web App
The iCloud web app for Find My iPhone diverges slightly from the Find My app, and mobile devices have a different process than Macs.
Lock a Mobile Device in iCloud
Here’s how to proceed for an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max:
Select the device.
On the actions panel, click Lost Mode.
In the unlikely event the device doesn’t have a passcode set, you have to invent one and set it at this point.
Enter a phone number that will be displayed (optional). Click Next.
Enter a message that will be displayed (optional). Click Done.
You can unlock these devices using the same methods as when they are locked in a Find My app.
Lock a Mac in iCloud
Macs are handled slightly differently; here are the alternative steps:
Select the Mac.
Click Lock.
A prompt appears: “Lock this Mac? Are you sure you want to lock this Mac? A locked Mac cannot be erased.” Click Lock.
Even if your Mac has a password, as is likely, you’re required to think up and set a six-digit passcode. Enter it in this step and confirm it by re-entering it.
Optionally enter a message and click Lock.
The Mac is now locked. On the lock screen, you can enter the passcode to unlock it. The Mac restarts after that point. See How Mark as Lost Works with a Mac for how this appears.
Mark an Item as Lost in the Find My App
Here’s how to activate Lost Mode (not Mark as Lost) for an AirTag or third-party Find My network accessory:
Tap Enable beneath Lost Mode, except in watchOS, where you first tap the Lost Mode button and then enable Lost Mode.
After reading the details about what will happen when you enable Lost Mode, tap Continue (Figure 63). (Tap Cancel to back out.)
Enter your phone number. You can optionally tap “Use an email address,” which should prefill your Apple ID email address, although you can change it. Whichever you choose, tap Next. (Apple requires that you enter either a phone number or an email address.)
Tap Notify When Found to get an alert when you’re once again close to it. (This can’t be enabled if you’re currently nearby.)
Tap Activate.
The item is now set in its lost mode, which triggers behaviors and capabilities as described in How Lost Mode Works with an Item.
When an item’s status is updated, you should receive a notification (Figure 64).
