How to turn on Find My Mac

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 3 October 2026

Find My Mac does two things: it shows the Mac on a map, and it switches on Activation Lock, so nobody can erase and reuse the Mac without your Apple Account password. It has to be on before the Mac goes missing.

Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.

Step by step

1. Turn on Location Services

   Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services and switch it on. Without it the Mac cannot report its position.

   Done

2. Open the iCloud settings

   In System Settings, click your name at the top of the sidebar, then iCloud.

   Done

3. Click See All

   The list shows all apps and features that use iCloud. Scroll down to Find My Mac and click it.

   Done

4. Click Turn On

   Enter your Apple Account password when asked. Click Turn On again, and click Allow when the Mac asks whether Find My Mac may use its location.

   Done

5. Leave the Find My network on

   With the Find My network, the Mac can be located through other Apple devices nearby even when it is offline or asleep. The option is in the same place.

   Done

6. If the Mac is lost

   Open the Find My app on your iPhone, or go to icloud.com/find on any device and sign in. Select the Mac. You can play a sound, mark it as lost, which locks it with a code and shows your message, or erase it.

   Done

Good to know

Before you sell or give away the Mac, turn Find My Mac off, or use Erase All Content and Settings, which does it for you. Otherwise the next owner cannot set it up.

Report a theft to the police. Do not go to the location yourself.

Find My does not protect the files on the Mac. Encryption does: how to turn on FileVault on a Mac.

The same for the phone: how to find a lost iPhone.

In short: Location Services on, System Settings, your name, iCloud, See All, Find My Mac, Turn On, password, Allow.