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Stolen phone - If I erased remotely (but the device was not on wifi so erase was pending) then untrusted the device, will it still erase?

My iPhone was stolen today. I had a 4-digit passcode on it. I used FindMy to track the device and the location was offline, which to me meant it's in airplane mode or off. I followed the apple instructions on what to do here and I erased the phone remotely (it said it would do it the next time the phone connected to wifi) and then I removed the device from my list of trusted devices.


I'm now wondering if removing it from my trusted devices was a mistake -- will the remote erase still go through when the phone next connects to wifi, or is that now no longer going to happen because I removed the device from my list of trusted devices? Can I somehow tell Apple to still erase it? I also had the Files app on my phone. Is there a way for me to block access to that if the thief guesses my passcode and tries to use data to get the information?


Freaking out :/

Posted on Jan 31, 2022 1:14 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 31, 2022 2:33 PM

Hello,


You don't need to worry. You removed it as a trusted device but it cannot be removed from Find My and have its Activation Lock removed until the erase is complete. In your case you would not want to remove the Activation Lock since it was stolen.


Use the Find My app to locate a missing device or item - Apple Support

"If you remove a missing device from your account after you erase it, Activation Lock will be turned off. This allows another person to turn on and use your device. Learn more."


Remove a device from Find My iPhone on iCloud.com - Apple Support

  1. "Erase the device.
    1. Because the device isn’t lost, don’t enter a phone number or message.
    2. If the device is offline, the remote erase begins the next time it’s online. You receive an email when the device is erased.
  2. When the device is erased, click Remove from Account.

All your content is erased, and someone else can now activate the device."


I hope this helps.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 31, 2022 2:33 PM in response to crispr7

Hello,


You don't need to worry. You removed it as a trusted device but it cannot be removed from Find My and have its Activation Lock removed until the erase is complete. In your case you would not want to remove the Activation Lock since it was stolen.


Use the Find My app to locate a missing device or item - Apple Support

"If you remove a missing device from your account after you erase it, Activation Lock will be turned off. This allows another person to turn on and use your device. Learn more."


Remove a device from Find My iPhone on iCloud.com - Apple Support

  1. "Erase the device.
    1. Because the device isn’t lost, don’t enter a phone number or message.
    2. If the device is offline, the remote erase begins the next time it’s online. You receive an email when the device is erased.
  2. When the device is erased, click Remove from Account.

All your content is erased, and someone else can now activate the device."


I hope this helps.

Stolen phone - If I erased remotely (but the device was not on wifi so erase was pending) then untrusted the device, will it still erase?

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