How to Share Your Location With Family on iPhone

iPhone's Find My app lets you share your real-time location with specific family members so they always know you're safe — without tracking your every move.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.Open the Find My App
2.Share Your Location With a Family Member
3.Accept a Location Sharing Request
4.See Your Family's Locations
5.Stop Sharing or Remove Someone

Open the Find My App

~16s

The Find My app comes pre-installed on every iPhone. Open it by searching "Find My" in your app library or asking Siri "Open Find My." Make sure you're signed in with your Apple ID (the same as your iCloud). Tap the "People" tab at the bottom.

Share Your Location With a Family Member

~24s

On the People tab, tap "Share My Location" (or the "+" button). A contact picker appears. Search for and select the family member's name. Tap "Send." They receive a notification on their iPhone asking to accept your location sharing. Once they accept, you appear on each other's maps.

Quick Tip

Both people need to have Location Services turned on: SettingsPrivacy & SecurityLocation ServicesMake sure this is On.

Accept a Location Sharing Request

~16s

When someone sends you a location sharing request, you receive an iPhone notification. Tap it and choose "Share Once," "Share Until You Leave" (a specific location), or "Always Share." For ongoing family location sharing, choose "Always Share." You can change or revoke this at any time.

See Your Family's Locations

~16s

In the Find My appPeople tab, you see everyone sharing their location with you. Tap a person's name to see their location on a full map, get turn-by-turn directions to them, or see when they last updated their location. The map also shows their battery level.

Stop Sharing or Remove Someone

~25s

In Find MyPeople tab, tap the person's name → scroll down → "Stop Sharing My Location." This immediately stops that person from seeing your location. They receive no notification that you've stopped. You can also tap "Remove" on the contact to remove them entirely from your People list.

Warning

Location sharing should always be consensual. Don't attempt to share someone's location without their knowledge or use it to monitor someone who hasn't agreed to share.

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Apple's Find My app gives you an easy way to share your live location with specific family members or friends. When you enable location sharing with someone, they can see where you are on a map at any time — and you can see their location too if they share back with you.

This is useful in many situations: an elderly parent who lives alone can share their location with an adult child for peace of mind. Spouses can see each other without texting "where are you?" Teenagers can be seen by parents when driving. Family members can find each other in a crowded place like an airport.

Location sharing in Find My is mutual and consensual — you choose exactly who can see your location, and you can stop sharing at any time. The person you share with gets a notification that you're sharing, and you can stop with one tap. It's not surveillance — it's voluntary family coordination.

The Find My app can also be used to see your own devices, locate friends who've shared with you, and see the location of AirTags (Apple's Bluetooth trackers).

Privacy note: your location is shared only with the specific people you choose in Find My. Apple does not share your location data with advertisers or other third parties. The location update frequency is roughly every few minutes when the phone is in use.

As an alternative, Google Maps has a similar location-sharing feature for Android users and is also available on iPhone — see the Google Maps location sharing guide if your family members use a mix of iPhone and Android devices.

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