You can use Find My on your iPhone to see the location of your device on a map. If your device is connected, you'll see its location and play a sound to help you find it. If the device is disconnected, you'll see its location, but it won't play any sound. You'll know that this feature is active if, when you turn off your phone, you see the phrase “The iPhone can be found after turning it off” under the shutdown button.
If your iPhone isn't close enough to respond to your ping, or you don't have any of the above, you'll need to use the Find My app to help you locate it. The good news is that you can track an iPhone even if it's turned off or disconnected with Find My. Other Bluetooth devices that have been nearby can locate the iPhone's last known location without needing to be on a mobile network or Wi-Fi. There have been cases of people trying to recover stolen iPhones using Find My iPhone and were injured or worse.
If you want to make an insurance claim for your stolen iPhone, you'll need a police crime number, so you'll need to report the theft of your iPhone. Unfortunately, even if they see that your iPhone is located on a specific street or development, it's unlikely that the police will go looking for it, because, no matter how good Find My iPhone is, it's not so good that they can be sure that they will find it in the right direction. It's worth noting that this feature can only be used if it's enabled on the iPhone before it's lost, as there's no way to locate an iPhone without Find My enabled. iPhone users can track their lost or stolen device through the Find My network, but there's also a way to find an iPhone if it's turned off or disconnected.
If you've lost your iPhone and haven't set up Find My, you might be able to find your iPhone by phone number. Once these options are enabled, users will see a banner when they turn off their iPhone that says “iPhone can be found after turning it off”. As with the option to leave a previous message, if you follow the steps to erase the iPhone, you'll also have the option to add a message that will be displayed on the iPhone if someone recovers it. This is especially useful when a person loses an iPhone that runs out of battery, or if their iPhone has been stolen and turned off or put into airplane mode.
When you report an iPhone has been lost or stolen to the police, you may need to give them your iPhone's serial number. To locate an iPhone that's turned off, open the Find My app on another Apple device, such as a Mac, iPad, or other iPhone.
