How to find a stolen iPad or iPhone

One of the biggest fears for an iPad or iPhone user is having their device stolen or simply losing it in any other way, especially for the high investment required to have an Apple device here in Brazil.

Fortunately, Apple itself makes finding the smartphone much simpler and more practical than you might think. If you need to track your device or just want to know how it can be done on future occasions, just check out our very detailed tutorial on how to find your stolen or lost iPad and iPhone!

Tracking a stolen iPad or iPhone

The most important thing to accomplish this task is to make sure that the “Search iPad” or “Search iPhone” function is enabled in your settings. If you have your device in hand, you can verify this by going to "Settings" and clicking "iCloud."

You will see several options, and you will need to click "Search iPhone" (or iPad) to enable or disable the feature. Fortunately, by default this feature is always on, and you must enter your Apple ID password to disable it, which ensures that others will not be able to tamper with this option.

To start tracking your device, you'll need to go to the iCloud website (just click this link) and sign in with your Apple ID.

From the available options, click “Search iPhone” (this will be the default even if you only have an iPad) and the location will be tracked immediately.

The small green dot represents your device's current location on the map, so you can see nearby street names and zoom in.

Clicking the info icon (represented by the “i”) gives you some options for what to do with your device: “Play sound”, enable “Lost Mode” or “Erase iPhone” (or iPad).

The option to play sound is very useful if you only lost your device, as this is a great way for someone to find it. Lost mode is for you to enable a password that blocks access to your device, so no one can use it until you get it back.

The option to delete the device is recommended if you believe you can no longer recover the device or if you think it is safer for your information to be deleted from it. This will erase apps, photos, videos and any other information, leaving the device in its factory condition.

Either way, it's easy to see how practical and simple it is to find your Apple device, and we have so many options to do with it from a distance. But then, what did you think of our tutorial on how to track down a stolen iPad or iPhone?

Ready to recover your stolen iPhone or iPad?

Be sure to leave your comment telling us if these tips have helped you and check out our full list of the best iPad tricks and tips!