How to track a switch off iphone when get stollem

How can apple trace my iphone 14 plus When was stollen on 1st December But the stoler is being switching it on and off on different location How can i get exactly location in real time in malawi even the phone is still off.

iPhone 14 Plus, iOS 26

Posted on Dec 3, 2025 5:41 AM

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Posted on Dec 3, 2025 5:47 AM

Apple doesn't get involved in lost or stolen devices. All you can do is report it to the local police and use the Find My app to try to track it. Here is a link which explains what to do if your phone is stolen --> If your iPhone or iPad was stolen - Apple Support


Thieves are smart. They usually place a stolen phone in a Faraday Bag to make it impossible to track. Even if you did see its location, you should NEVER attempt to go where it shows on a map. It could be very dangerous and life-ending. Let the police know, if you are able to see its location.


And be advised that if you get any message which appears to come from Apple, suggesting your phone has been found and all you need to do is provide your account credentials to confirm it's your phone, that message is NOT from Apple. It is from the thieves, who are hoping you'll be dumb enough to give them your credentials, so they can wipe the phone and sell it or use it. DON'T fall for this.


Finally, contact your carrier and ask them to Blacklist the phone, so it can't be activated on any other carriers network.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 3, 2025 5:47 AM in response to Nonie071

Apple doesn't get involved in lost or stolen devices. All you can do is report it to the local police and use the Find My app to try to track it. Here is a link which explains what to do if your phone is stolen --> If your iPhone or iPad was stolen - Apple Support


Thieves are smart. They usually place a stolen phone in a Faraday Bag to make it impossible to track. Even if you did see its location, you should NEVER attempt to go where it shows on a map. It could be very dangerous and life-ending. Let the police know, if you are able to see its location.


And be advised that if you get any message which appears to come from Apple, suggesting your phone has been found and all you need to do is provide your account credentials to confirm it's your phone, that message is NOT from Apple. It is from the thieves, who are hoping you'll be dumb enough to give them your credentials, so they can wipe the phone and sell it or use it. DON'T fall for this.


Finally, contact your carrier and ask them to Blacklist the phone, so it can't be activated on any other carriers network.

Dec 3, 2025 5:51 AM in response to Nonie071

You can't.


If the phone is switched off, that disables the main tracking mechanism. There is still a small chance that the phone might come within Bluetooth range of another Apple device, and that the switched-off phone might be sending out beacons that the other device would hear (and report). But Bluetooth is very short range, and the thieves may well have put your phone into a Faraday bag, or wrapped it in foil, to block all radio communications (cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth).


If you did see a location, it would be unwise to go there yourself to confront criminals. You might lose a lot more than just a phone.

Dec 3, 2025 7:55 PM in response to J2fearlessss

If the phone can’t be electronically located, it can’t be electronically located. There are many things that could cause this like: the phone being out of power, the phone not having an Internet connection or being within Bluetooth range of other Apple devices, etc.


The location feature is nice when it works and when the phone is merely lost, rather than stolen.


If you think you know roughly where you misplaced the phone (lost, not stolen), you could try going there, calling it from another phone, and listening for “ringing”. But I wouldn’t put too much hope on that working if Find My was turned on, cellular data was turned on, and the phone isn’t showing up on a map.

How to track a switch off iphone when get stollem

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