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I keep Find My enabled on all my devices, but recently it turned off automatically on my MacBook, and then refused to turn back on. But after trying various solutions, I was able to fix the problem, and I’m sharing those same tips with you.

So, what exactly happened…

I was using the Find My app on my iPhone to see the location of a family member and noticed that my MacBook, though on my desk and connected to Wi-Fi, was not showing up in my list of devices! This happens when Find My is disabled on that Apple device.

I immediately went to MacBook System Settings > Apple Account name > iCloud > See All > Find My Mac and sure it was off. So, I turned both Find My Mac and Find My network back on.

However, even after enabling Find My and waiting for more than 30 minutes, my MacBook didn’t show up in the Find My app on my other devices or iCloud.com/find.

Why does this problem happen?

I’ve been using a Mac for over a decade, and in my experience, Apple’s Find My tracking service turns off automatically or doesn’t show up in iCloud because of these reasons:

• You add another user account to your Mac and sign in with a different Apple ID. Then, Find My may show up only for that account.
• You install another copy of macOS on a separate volume/partition and log in to your Apple Account there. Then, Find My may show as if it’s switched on in that macOS installation, but off in your primary installation.
• Issues with the Find My Property List and cache files.
• System glitches and bugs.
• You turned off Location Services on your device.
• You reinstalled macOS, and then maybe didn’t turn Find My back on.

Here’s what I did to fix this problem.

The compulsory basic solutions

To address the Find My issue, I first did what most of us would do:

• Restarted both my MacBook and my iPhone.
• Reconfirmed that the MacBook is connected to the Internet.
• Went to macOS System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and made sure the switch next to Find My is green. Then, I clicked the “Details” button next to System Services and ensured Find My Mac is allowed to access my location.
• Went to MacBook System Settings > Battery > Options and set “Wake for network access” to Always so Find My network can work reliably.
• Checked Apple’s System Status page to ensure Find My is working and there are no server issues on Apple’s end.

Then, I waited for more than 20 minutes, hoping my MacBook would start showing up in Find My on my iPhone as before. But it didn’t. So, I left everything as it was and checked the next day. Still, the same problem.

Thereafter, I tried these solutions, and they fixed the problem. Find My has been working perfectly ever since. I believe that one or a combination of these solutions should work for you as well.

Turn off Find My for another user account

I’ve two user accounts on my MacBook: mine and my wife’s. By design, Find My on one Mac can only be used with one Apple Account. So, if I’m using Find My with my user account on Mac, I can’t turn Find My on for my wife’s user account and vice versa. But as far as finding lost Mac or Activation Lock is concerned, in an ideal situation, your Mac’s location will show up in the Find My even when another account is logged in and using your computer, so that’s a relief.

Now, coming back to my Find My problem, when I logged into my wife’s user account on Mac, it showed Find My was switched on (and I could also turn on Find My in my admin user account, even though it didn’t actually update the location and status).

So, I turned off Find My for her account, logged out of it, logged in to my account, and made sure Find My is enabled here. Then, I waited for a while, allowing time for this change to take effect and for my MacBook to appear in Find My on my iPhone.

For most people, this should have done the trick, but it didn’t work for me somehow. Thankfully, the next two solutions helped.

Turn off Find My for your other macOS installation on the same Mac

Since my work involves testing the ins and outs of Apple devices, I usually have more than one macOS installation on my Macs. I also sign in to them with my Apple Account so that all iCloud data can sync. And I usually have no issues with Find My or other Apple services.

But this time, with macOS Tahoe beta on my main volume and macOS Sequoia on a separate volume, I was having problems with Find My. So, I booted my MacBook to macOS Sequoia installation and turned off Find My for my Apple Account.

Then, I rebooted to my main macOS Tahoe 26 installation, turned Find My off (it had been falsely showing as ‘On’ all this time), and then turned it back on. But still, Find My didn’t work for me, even though it had worked for a couple of users who also have two or more macOS installations on the same computer. Of course, this doesn’t concern you if you’ve just one macOS version, so skip to the next solution.

Delete the Find My Location plist file

Finally, this is the solution that worked for me to resolve the issue of Find My being enabled on my MacBook but not actually showing up in the Find My app on other devices or in iCloud. I assume the Find My Location plist file (Property List) file that stores settings, preferences, and configurations was corrupted. Having my Mac recreate this file helped fix the problem.

1) Make sure you’re in Finder, click Go from the top menu bar, and do one of the following.

• Select Go to Folder, paste this address /Users/YourUsername/Library/Preferences/com.apple.findmy.findmylocateagent.plist and hit the return/enter key.
• Or, hold the Option key to reveal the Library folder and click it. Then, open the Preferences folder and find the com.apple.findmy.findmylocateagent.plist file. You can also use the search bar to locate it quickly.

2) Move this plist file to the Trash and empty the Trash. You can also move the plist file to another folder, such as Downloads, for backup purposes.

3) Now, restart your Mac. Your computer will automatically re-create the com.apple.findmy.findmylocateagent.plist file with no existing issues. Check System Settings to ensure Find My Mac is on, and soon it will start showing up in Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and iCloud.com.

In case deleting the Find My Location property list file didn’t work for you, turn off Find My on your Mac (in case it falsely shows it’s ON). Then, go to /Users/YourUsername/Library/Caches and delete the Find My folders from there. Restart your Mac, turn on Find My, and it should work smoothly.

If the problem continues…

In case the above tips don’t work for you in fixing Mac’s Find My problem, consider the following solutions:

• Update to the latest version of macOS.
• Try turning Find My on (or off and back on) after a while.
• Sign out of your Apple Account on this Mac, restart it, and sign back in.
• Remove this Mac from your Apple Account and sign back in.
• Reinstall macOS without losing personal data.
• Take it to an Apple Store for help.

Were you able to fix the problem? Share in the comments section below.

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/09/04/fix-find-my-issues-on-mac/

Keep track of your family members and friends’ locations at all times by enabling continuous location sharing between iPhone and Android phone.

My wife and I have iPhones, and we’ve enabled Find My location sharing, which allows us to see each other’s locations at all times. As a result, I don’t have to call or text her to ask if she has reached her office; I can just see it in Find My.

I wanted to set up a similar thing with my dad, but he has an Android phone. Then, one day out of the blue, I came across the location sharing feature in Google Maps, which works across platforms and allows me to achieve the same function as Apple’s Find My. It’s easy to set up and works reliably. Of course, this also works to share location continuously between two iPhones and two Android phones.

Share iPhone’s location permanently with Android user

We’ll start by sharing iPhone’s continuous location with an Android phone, and then share the Android phone’s constant location with iPhone.

1) Open the iPhone Settings app and go to Privacy & Security > Location Services. Select Google Maps from the list of applications and set it to access your location at all times by tapping ‘Always.’

2) Launch the Google Maps app on iPhone and sign in with your Google/Gmail account if you haven’t already. Then, tap the profile picture icon at the top, followed by Location Sharing and the Share Location button.

3) Tap the “For 1 hour” drop-down button and select “Until you turn this off.”

4) Tap the More button, which is on the right of your contact suggestions.

5) Now type the Gmail address of your family member or friend with an Android phone, tap it, and hit the Share button. Your iPhone is now sharing its location with that Android phone user at all times.

How will the Android user see iPhone’s location

After you follow the above steps, the person with Android phone can see your (iPhone) location whenever they like, by following these steps:

1) Open Maps or Google’s dedicated Find Hub app on Android phone.

2) In Google Maps, tap the profile picture icon, select Location Sharing, and tap the person’s name. It will display the iPhone’s location, how far away it is, the battery status, and when this location was last updated. Tap the three dots icon and hit Refresh to fetch the updated location.

3) In the Find Hub app, go to the People tab, and select the person to see their current location.

Share Android phone’s location permanently with an iPhone

You can share an Android phone’s location with an iPhone via Google Maps, following the same steps we’ve mentioned above. Additionally, you can use the Find Hub app to share the location, which is a cleaner, dedicated app for this job, powered by the same Google Maps under the hood.

1) Open the Find Hub app on your Android phone, make sure you’re signed in with your Google account, and go to the People tab.

Note: If the iPhone user is already sharing their location with you, just tap their name, followed by the Share Your Location button, and select Until you turn this off.

2) If the iPhone user isn’t sharing their location with you, tap the plus button (+), and set ‘For one hour’ to ‘Until you turn this off.’

3) After that, tap the Search button.

4) Type the Gmail address of the iPhone user, select the person from under the Suggestions, and tap OK. Finally, tap Share.

How will the iPhone user see Android phone’s location

The iPhone user will go to Google Maps on their device, tap the profile picture, select Location Sharing, and then tap the Android phone user’s name to see their location, battery percentage, and other details. If the location is outdated, tap the three-dot menu icon and select Refresh.

Get notifications when the person leaves or arrives at a location

Just like Apple’s Find My, Google Maps also lets you get an alert when a family member or friend you’re sharing your location with arrives at a place or leaves one.

1) Go to Google Maps, tap the profile picture, pick Location Sharing, and then select the person.

2) Tap the Add button with a tiny bell icon next to Notifications.

3) Tap Add Location, search for the location, and select it.

4) Then, turn on the switches for ‘Every time they arrive or leave‘ in the ‘Get notified’ section, and finally hit Save.

Add location sharing to the Home Screen

The iOS version of the Google Maps app doesn’t yet support adding people widgets to the Home Screen or Lock Screen. However, the Android version allows you to add a small app-like icon to the Home Screen, which enables you to view that person’s location with a tap.

Just touch and hold your Android phone’s Home Screen, tap Widgets, select Maps, and add the Friend’s Location widget. Then, choose a person who is sharing their location with you.

Some tips to keep in mind for accurate location

Sharing location via Google Maps works best when:

• Wi-Fi or mobile data is working properly.
• The Maps app can access phone location at all times.
• Background App Refresh on iPhone is active for Google Maps.
• Any extreme battery-saving options are disabled on Android phone.
• And most importantly, the location feature is enabled on the phone. My mom accidentally turned off the location feature on her Android phone from the Quick Settings menu, and I couldn’t see her new location in Google Maps on my iPhone.

Will you be turning it on for your family members and close friends? Remember that you can also use this tip to track a lost phone and know its whereabouts!

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/09/03/how-to-share-location-continuously-iphone-android/