How to Use Apple Find My to Retrieve Your Mac

Find My vs. Find My iPhone

it is always scary when an electronic device goes missing. And you might think of this happening most often with a mobile device, it can certainly happen even with a computer too.

With how compact modern laptops are becoming these days, a MacBook could easily slide under a couch, a pile of laundry, bed, or even into someone else’s bag. 

Before we start, you might be wondering what the difference is between the Find My app and Find My iPhone.

With the releases of iOS 13, iPadOS, and macOS Catalina, Apple has combined the Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps into a single application called Find My.

The all-encompassing Find My application helps you to locate missing devices, along with friends who have shared their location with you, and it provides you with directions to both. You can also play a sound on the missing device which is very helpful if it is hidden nearby.

Because the official name of the application is Find My, we will use that name for this tutorial.

Find My Mac Requirements

In order to find your Mac with the Find My application, the most obvious requirement is that you have enabled this feature before your Mac went missing. Assuming you had enabled it, you have hopefully also turned on the Offline Finding feature, which would allow you to locate an Apple device that is not connected to a network.

You will also need to sign in to the Find My application with the same Apple ID that you use on your missing device. If you use iCloud.com‘s Find My feature, you will need to use the same Apple ID there as well.

Use Find My on Another Apple Device

If you own more than one Apple device, have the Find My app installed on another device, and are signed into it with the same Apple ID, this is the simplest way to find your Mac Device.

On iPhone and iPad

To locate your Mac with an iPhone or iPad, follow these steps:

1. Open the Find My app on the other device.
2. Tap on Devices at the bottom.
3. Select your Mac from the list of devices there.
4. When the Mac icon appears on the map, you can double-tap it or you can use the pinch gesture to zoom in. You can also switch from Map to Hybrid or Satellite view with the Information icon in the top right.

On an iPhone, swipe up from the bottom to view the full list of secondary actions. On an iPad, you will see these actions display automatically when you select a device. You can also play a sound, enable notifications, get directions, mark your Mac to be lost, or wipe the device.

On Mac

You can also find your Mac with another Mac, maybe someone else in your Family Sharing group has a Mac, or you happen to own both a MacBook and an iMac. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Find My app on the Mac that you are using.
2. At the top of the sidebar, click on Devices.
3. Choose your Mac device from the resulting list of devices.
4. When the Mac icon appears on the map, you can double-click it to zoom in or you can use the plus sign at the bottom right. You can also switch from Map to Hybrid or Satellite view with the buttons that are at the bottom.

Use Find My on iCloud.com

If you do not own another Apple device or you belong to a Family Sharing group, you can use the iCloud website to find your Mac.

Head over to iCloud.com using any browser, sign in with the same Apple ID that you use on your Mac, and then follow these steps:

1. On the main iCloud page, click on Find iPhone.
2. Click All the Devices that are the top and you will see your devices in list form.
3. Select your missing Mac.
4. When the dot appears on the screen showing your Mac’s location, you can double-click the dot or use the plus sign that is at the top-left to zoom in.

You would also see options for your Mac to the top-right. You can move your cursor over the battery icon to see its battery level or you can click to play a sound, lock, or erase your Mac device.