How do I reconnect an AirTag to my Apple Account on a new iPhone?

Question

Wistian Author

Level 1

8 points

How do I reconnect an AirTag to my Apple Account on a new iPhone?

I have sold my iPhone 11, I erased it before the sale.

I cannot contact the new owner of the iPhone 11.

I have bought an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

I had 6 Airtags active in my old iPhone.

5 of them I have successfully setup in my new iPhone.

The other one I tried to rename but it wouldn't give me the option, so I removed it.

This one will now not connect, I get the error “This AirTag is connected to another Apple ID”

The Airtag does not appear in the list in Find My.

My Apple ID has not changed.

I have tried the trick with taking the battery out of the Airtag 5 times on multiple occasions, it will not give me the different tones.

The only things that have changed is the phone & I removed it from Find My on my new phone when I originally created it on my old one.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: AirTag shows

Posted on Dec 9, 2025 3:25 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

157,860 points

Dec 9, 2025 5:24 PM in response to Wistian

Wistian wrote:

My Apple ID has not changed.

I have tried the trick with taking the battery out of the Airtag 5 times on multiple occasions, it will not give me the different tones.

The clue is in the second line. The AirTag is associated with your Apple Account, not the iPhone itself. Since you are using the same account with your new phone, the only necessary step would be to properly reset the tag when it isn't immediately recognized with your new phone. The fact that you didn't get the different tone would mean that the reset did not "take."

If you have tried multiple times already to reset it, then I would suggest that you try with another known good (& bitterant-free) battery, and try again.

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Answer 2

Wistian Author

Level 1

8 points

Dec 9, 2025 7:47 PM in response to Tesserax

Hi Tesserax,

Thank you for your prompt reply, I have already tried a 2nd, new battery though I don't understand what bitterant-free means.

I will try with another one though.

Perplexity suggests that "the only official option is for whoever owns that Apple ID (or can prove original ownership) to contact Apple Support and request that the AirTag be removed from that account."

I will explore this route or maybe just get a new one.

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

157,860 points

Dec 9, 2025 9:08 PM in response to Wistian

By "bitterant-free" I mean to use batteries that come without a bitterant coating as these are known by Apple to perform poorly with the AirTags.

... and yes, should the new battery still not resolve the issue, contacting Apple Support directly would be the next step before considering getting a replacement tag.

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