Find My Not Updating Location? Why It Happens and How to Fix It

When Find My shows someone in the same place for hours, or says No location found, it's tempting to assume the app is broken. Almost always, it isn't. Find My only shows what the other iPhone sends, so the fix is usually a setting on the phone being located - not the one doing the looking.

Work through the checks below in order. Most problems are solved by the first four.

How Find My gets a location

Find My doesn't track people continuously. The iPhone being located works out where it is, then sends that position to Apple's servers whenever it can. Your iPhone simply shows the most recent position it received, along with how long ago that was.

That means three things have to be true for a fresh location to appear:

• The other iPhone can work out where it is (Location Services is on).
• It's allowed to share that position (Share My Location is on, with the right device chosen).
• It can reach the internet to send it.

If any one of those fails, Find My keeps showing the last place it heard from - which is why a location can look "stuck".

1. Check the phone is on and connected

Start with the obvious, because it catches most cases. If the other iPhone is switched off, out of battery, in Airplane Mode or has no signal, it can't send a new position. Find My will show the last one it received, often with a time like 2 hr ago underneath.

Recent iPhones can still be found for a while after the battery dies, but that's a separate feature for finding a lost device - it doesn't keep sharing a live location with friends and family.

2. Make sure Share My Location is on

On the iPhone being located:

1. Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
2. Tap Find My.
3. Make sure Share My Location is switched on.
4. Check that My Location says This Device.

That last step matters more than people expect. If someone has an iPad or a second iPhone signed in to the same Apple Account, their location may be coming from that device instead - one that's sitting at home in a drawer.

To fix it from the Find My app, open Find My → Me and choose Use this iPhone as My Location.

3. Check Location Services and Find My's permission

Still on the iPhone being located:

1. Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services and make sure it's on.
2. Scroll down to Find My and make sure it isn't set to Never.
3. Turn on Precise Location for Find My. Without it, Find My only gets an approximate area, which can look like the location isn't moving.

If Location Services is off entirely, nothing can see where the phone is, Find My included.

4. Check the date, time and Apple Account

Find My relies on secure connections to Apple's servers, and those fail quietly if the clock is wrong.

• Go to Settings → General → Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically.
• Make sure the person is still signed in to their Apple Account under Settings → [your name]. If they've signed out, or changed their password and not signed back in, sharing stops.

5. Low Power Mode and background limits

Low Power Mode reduces background activity to save battery, so a phone may send its position less often. It still works, but a location can lag behind by longer than usual. Try with it switched off to see whether updates come through more often.

There's no switch to make Find My update more often. iOS decides how often to send a position based on movement, battery and signal.

6. If you see "Location not available" or "No location found"

These two messages mean slightly different things:

• No location found usually means the other phone hasn't sent a position recently - it's off, offline, or Location Services is off.
• Location not available usually means sharing has been stopped, or the person is sharing from a device that isn't reporting.

In both cases, the fix is on the other person's phone. Ask them to go through steps 2 and 3. If they stopped sharing on purpose, you'll see it in Find My → People, where their name no longer appears or shows that they aren't sharing.

7. Restart, and reset location settings as a last resort

If everything looks right and nothing updates, restart both iPhones. That clears most temporary glitches.

If it's still stuck, the person being located can go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset Location & Privacy. This clears every app's location permission, so apps ask again. They'll need to allow Find My again afterwards.

Find My can also show a position that updates but is in the wrong place - a few streets out, or across town. That's a GPS accuracy problem rather than a Find My problem, and our guide to fixing an iPhone that shows the wrong location covers it.

Find My and simulated locations

If the phone being located has been using a location app such as Mirrage, Find My shows the simulated location, not the real one. Every app on the iPhone sees the position the phone reports, and Find My is no exception.

So if Find My shows someone in a place they obviously aren't, check whether a simulated location is still running. In Mirrage, tap Stop and the real location returns straight away - Find My picks it up the next time the phone sends a position.

This is also why it's worth switching back as soon as you're done, as we explain in is location spoofing safe on iPhone. And if you'd rather control who sees your location in the first place, our iPhone location privacy guide walks through sharing, Significant Locations and app permissions.

FAQ

Why is Find My not updating someone's location?

Usually because their iPhone can't send a new position. It may be off, offline or in Airplane Mode, Location Services may be off, or Share My Location may be set to a different device such as an iPad.

How often does Find My update location?

There's no fixed interval. iOS sends a new position when it can, more often when the phone is moving and less often when it's still, in Low Power Mode or on a weak signal.

What does "No location found" mean in Find My?

It means Find My hasn't received a recent position from that iPhone. The phone is typically switched off, offline, or has Location Services turned off.

Can I make Find My refresh someone's location?

Not directly. Opening their name in Find My asks for a fresh position, but the other iPhone still has to be on, connected and sharing for a new one to appear.

Why does Find My show the wrong place?

Either the iPhone's own GPS fix is inaccurate - common indoors or in dense cities - or a simulated location is still running on that phone. Check for a location app first, then work through the usual GPS accuracy fixes.