Lost Airpods . . . what happens if someone finds them?

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Level 2

270 points

Lost Airpods . . . what happens if someone finds them?

So, I have lost my Airpods. They are named with my name (should have also thought to include my phone number) but my name is not that common. Find My iPhone just shows them offline. My question is, what happens if someone else finds them and tries to use them? Will they see the name? Will they be able to rename and use them on their device? And finally, If Apple knows they are mine, can Apple help me find them with the serial number if someone else has them and is using them?

iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 10.2

Posted on Sep 14, 2017 6:28 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

jhalkias Author

Level 2

270 points

Sep 15, 2017 5:04 AM in response to rose_10

Hello Sarah,

Yes, Find My iPhone was turned on. However, my AirPods do not show a last location in the app - they just show "offline". See my questions above. What happens if someone finds them and attempts to make them theirs? Will it show how I named them when they try to connect them (They are named with my name). Will they pop up on my own Find My iPhone once connected even if to someone else's iPhone? Or am I just SOL if someone finds them and decides to keep them and rename them?

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Answer 2

Oct 31, 2017 2:47 AM in response to rose_10

Same thing happened to me but they were showing up in find my iPhone and now they’ve disappeared... what’s the deal?

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Answer 3

Red3893

Level 1

15 points

Dec 12, 2017 7:38 PM in response to jhalkias

I am in the same boat. I’d like to know the answer to this.

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Answer 4

Red3893

Level 1

15 points

Dec 12, 2017 7:46 PM in response to jhalkias

Well when I called Apple care they did not tell me this, but I just found this article on reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/6j5bu1/psa_find_my_airpods_will_not_noti fy_you_if_your/

So looks to me like we are both out of luck.

Sorry it hurts my feelings too.

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Answer 5

rose_10

Community Specialist

Sep 14, 2017 6:59 PM in response to jhalkias

Hello Jhalkias.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

If I'm understanding correctly you lost your AirPods and need to know what to do next. I know the importance of being able to retrieve the AirPods and I'll be happy to help.

Check out the information below from our article: If your AirPods are missing

If your AirPods are offline

If you didn't turn on Find My iPhone before your AirPods went missing, you can't use it to locate your device. If you see a gray dot next to your AirPods on the map, you can't play a sound to find them but you can still get directions to the location where they were last connected. If your AirPods do come back online, you'll get a notification on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you use them with.

Find My iPhone is the only way that you can track or locate a lost or missing device. There is no other Apple service that can find, track, or otherwise flag your device for you.

Cheers.

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