Lost/stolen Apple Watch dead but still showing location

My Apple Watch Series 5 has been lost for a couple of days, it’s definitely dead and hasn’t been powered on since the “Lost Mode” is still pending. However it seems to be updating locations, I have looked high and low over and over but I still can not find it, the locations it’s updating is where I have been. Is it possible that the Watch App is doing this updating and not my Apple Watch?



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


Posted on Mar 1, 2022 6:06 PM

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Posted on May 12, 2022 2:28 AM

As super stressful as this is, I just wanted to share my experience, in hopes that it may help someone else. When accessing "Find My" app from my iPhone, similar to most of you, I was very confused as to why my "dead" Apple Watch seemed to always be in the same location as my iPhone; yet, it was nowhere to be found. Concerned that this iOS's feature/app could somehow be sending me incorrect information, I decided to compare, both:


  1. The data obtained from iCloud.com's "Find My" feature, accessed via my Mac, to
  2. The data that I previously received from the "Find My" app, accessed via my iPhone


Surprisingly, the data from my Mac, DID NOT correspond to the information that was obtained from my iOS Device. Upon immediate accessing the iCloud.com's "Find My" feature via my Mac, I was able to see the "LAST KNOWN LOCATION" before my Apple Watch went dead/offline. Something I was unable to do with my iOS device and after reading the previous responses I now understand why.


In conclusion, what I learned from this entire fiasco is that, once an iPhone is disabled or id dead:


1."Find My" app installed on the watch's paired device, (i.e. iPhone) will be of NO USE.


  • Mainly, because once the device is disabled, the watch's location is then assumed to be wherever the "paired device" is; which may or may not be the watch's actual location. Therefore, once the watch is disabled, utilizing the "paired device" as a means to locate the watch, may only lead to further confusion because it will always appear as if the watch is with the "paired device" or at one of its most recent locations; dependent mostly on, factors such as, wifi eligibility.


2.Determining the last known location, prior to the device being disabled, may be achieved by accessing the iCloud.com's "Find My" feature; using a device that is NOT PAIRED with the Apple Watch. At least, this was my saving grace.


3.The "PING or Playing Sound" feature located in "Find My" DID NOT work, while trying to locate my disabled apple watch. However, once the watch was REBOOTED, the feature DID work.


As mentioned previously, this is a horrible design flaw, one that I hope is fixed with the newest update. Being that we have come to expect so much more from apple, it's highly frustrating when mishaps like this occurs. Hope you guys can find this info somewhat helpful.

84 replies

Jun 20, 2022 3:07 AM in response to UnableToFindUser

Findmy can only tell you where your watch is as long as the watch is transmitting a signal,if it's dead then it can't report it's position so findmy tells you the watch's last known position when it was online.

Findmy can't possibly know that your battery is about to go flat so it does the next best thing which is to tell you it's last known position when it was receiving signals from the watch.

That's how it works,if you want it to work some other way then suggest here by all means;

Mar 29, 2022 9:07 AM in response to Stephmyers

Yes!!!! Literally Sunday evening. It had been missing/dead for over a month. My husband and I just moved into a new house and it was on the kitchen table (why I have no idea) and through all the chaos I just have wrapped it up in my hoodie. So when I finally got a day to out all of the laundry away that had been piling up since we moved in it was in the VERY LAST ARTICLE OF CLOTHING. When I tell you I literally went crazy looking for it, tearing apart my house & cars, feeling so defeated, the shriek that came out of me when finding it scared my husband half to death hahaha

Apr 10, 2022 10:29 PM in response to Nicholaskwolf

I have been going insane looking for my Apple Watch….


same thing, went to “find my watch” and seeing it was updating random places i went. Obsessing over this.


I remember the day I lost it, it had been sitting on the ledge in my porch for months Uncharged. I decided to take it to work with me and was going to charge while I was at work. I never did wear it. When I went to look for it a few days later it wasn’t in my bag, not on my desk or any coat pockets…. It’s gone.


I’ve been looking for it for about 6 weeks. I knew it was dead but desperately kept trying to refresh find my watch.


then thought it was in my van.


o wish it updated the last place it wasZ this is horrible.

Apr 13, 2022 11:09 PM in response to msilvest1216

This is so frustrating I’ve been missing my watch for like six weeks thinking it’s somewhere in my car or my stuff. I have spent probably a total of 4 hours looking for it. After I lost it it was updating everywhere I was, so I didn’t think to look anywhere it could’ve been and now it’s been so long I don’t even know where I could’ve left it. I literally got the watch to make my life easier and help me find my phone when I misplaced. Glad I looked this up I wish I would’ve sooner I just would’ve never imagined they would have it set up like this. So annoying!

Apr 15, 2022 6:06 PM in response to foneman53

Man I wish I seen earlier today. My car was broken into 8-9 months ago and they tried to steal some stuff but failed. And I was serious that they stole my Apple Watch too, and ever since I updated my phone it kept saying the watch was in my car and it kept following me everywhere. So I just deep cleaned my car looking for it. So bright side my car is cleaned. Bad side. My watch is still stolen and there’s still broken glass in small places in my car.

Apr 18, 2022 10:46 PM in response to iLuico

Same!! My car is now clean too! Lol.. I found so many things I misplaced or forgot about EXCEPT my stupid watch! I did think it was weird that it located it at my local Target all of a sudden after a month of being missing… I’m thinking the store charged it up or something, the whole time Iphone just has a flawed locating feature… smh

May 1, 2022 3:57 PM in response to helpfindmywatch

This is interesting. I was 100% sure the person who has the watch lived near by and just kept walking past our house and the watch connecting to my daughters phone 😂 also pairing with her phone outside the school gates. Been on the phone to the school asking them to check pupils bags too!! So much time has been wasted walking around and knocking on doors where it had flagged as being. When I spoke with Apple support they didn’t tell me this information. How frusturating!

May 1, 2022 4:04 PM in response to ACW_13

Hello


Are you saying that the Apple Watch locations are updating to where the phone is and not the watch ?


is it possible for someone to have the watch and it connects when they walk by our house/when we pass their house for eg. Providing the phone is with us?


Our watch is in lost mode and still says pending but we also have updates or location changing to where we are. This doesn’t happen everywhere we go.


Thanks

May 4, 2022 4:57 PM in response to msilvest1216

Oh man I am so upset with Apple right now. I lost my watch four days ago at my neighbor's house and it showed the last known location updated two hours after I left. I had them search the entire house for my watch and then BOOM it shows up as being at my house! It was around 8:00pm the next evening and I tore everything out of every room I was in for the past days. Ripped out entire closets and it still keeps "updating" its location at random times over the next two days. I still kept at it because I thought it was really checking in! Even when pinging it was say "pending" then act like it was pinging it. Really Apple?

May 5, 2022 7:15 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

I have an apple phone and watch 4series and my watch is missing. When I use the "find my watch app" it finds it as coming up at work. However, I swear its somewhere in my house, not work. When I first pinged it yesterday I was no where near work, yet it's saying my watch is there. My phone was dead when I misplaced it.

May 5, 2022 1:36 PM in response to westmantech

Thanks for having "Find my" not work for my Series 7 45mm - its LONG gone because this feature didn't work properly. I can, without a doubt, guarantee I was within range with my phone but it still failed to ping or find it. Now its five days and the battery on the watch is long gone. I'm sure it was somewhere in their back yard but they have almost 3/4 acre of black mulch and I'm certain it was out there based off my steps and last heart rate that it reported back.

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Lost/stolen Apple Watch dead but still showing location

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