How to stop sharing location on iPhone

Sharing your location is your decision, and so is ending it. This guide shows how to stop sharing location on iPhone with one person or with everyone, how to see who has access right now, and what Apple documents about notifications. We stick to what Apple’s own documentation says, because people often ask this for reasons of privacy and personal safety, and guesswork is not good enough there.

Who can see my location on iPhone?

Location you share with people runs through Find My, even when you started it in Messages or Maps. To review it:

1. Open the Find My app and tap People. Everyone you share with, or who shares with you, is listed. “Can see your location” under a name means that person sees your location while you aren’t following theirs.
2. Tap Me and look for a section called Notifications About You. It lists the alerts about your location changes, both the ones you set and the ones your friends created, and you can delete any of them. If the section isn’t there, Apple says your friends aren’t notified when your location changes.
3. For a complete review, open Settings › Privacy & Security › Safety Check and choose Manage Sharing & Access. It walks through the people and the apps that have access to your information, including your location.

Apple’s documentation lists where a person you share with can see your location: in Find My, in Maps when they search for your name, on your contact card in Contacts, and in Messages, where your approximate location is shown in the conversation. If you use Family Sharing with location sharing, family members appear in the People tab automatically, although sharing starts only when you share with each other.

Apps are a separate matter. Which apps may read your location is listed in Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services; see how to turn off location on iPhone.

How to stop sharing location on iPhone

With one person, in Find My

1. Open Find My and tap People.
2. Tap the name of the person.
3. Scroll down, tap Stop Sharing My Location, then confirm with Stop Sharing Location.

With everyone, in Find My

1. Open Find My and tap Me.
2. Turn off Share My Location.

Apple describes this as temporary: when you turn Share My Location back on, the people you previously shared with can see your location again.

In Messages

1. Open the conversation with the person or group.
2. Tap the name at the top of the conversation.
3. Tap Stop Sharing.

In Maps (shared ETA)

1. During navigation, tap Sharing with… at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap the name of the person you want to stop sharing with.

If I stop sharing my location, does it notify the other person?

Here is what Apple’s documentation says, without embellishment:

• No notification is sent. Apple’s support article on sharing your location states that the person you stop sharing with won’t be notified.
• They can still notice. Your location disappears from their Find My, Maps, Contacts and Messages apps. Apple’s Personal Safety User Guide says plainly that people you previously shared with may notice that you’ve stopped.
• Older systems may differ. The same guide adds that on earlier operating systems they may receive a notification in Messages that you stopped sharing.
• Starting again does notify. If you re-enable sharing, the person gets a notification that you’ve started sharing your location with them.
• Turning off Location Services notifies no one, according to Apple, but it also disables location for every app on your iPhone.

So the honest answer to “how to stop sharing location without them knowing” is that iOS won’t announce it, and it also won’t pretend you are still sharing. A person who opens Find My and looks for you will see that your location is gone. No setting changes that, and any plan should assume it.

If you are stopping for safety reasons

If someone uses your location to monitor or control you, changes to sharing can themselves be noticed and can carry risk. Apple’s guidance is to plan for your safety before making changes or deleting information.

• Safety Check (Settings › Privacy & Security › Safety Check, iPhone with iOS 16 or later) has two options. Emergency Reset immediately stops sharing with all people and apps and helps you review your account security. Manage Sharing & Access lets you review and change sharing person by person and app by app.
• Quick Exit, in the top-right corner of every Safety Check screen, closes Settings at once and returns to the Home Screen. Changes you already made are saved.
• Other trackers. Safety Check can’t review everything, for example accounts that aren’t Apple’s or social media sharing. The Personal Safety User Guide also covers AirTags and unwanted tracking.

Consider talking to a local domestic violence hotline or support organisation before you act; they can help you plan the order of the steps. If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number.

Can I pause sharing instead of stopping it?

For one person, Apple’s current iPhone User Guide (iOS 27) describes Hide Location: in Find My, tap People, tap the person, then choose Hide Location. Apple notes that sharing resumes automatically the next day. For everyone at once, turning off Share My Location in the Me tab works as a pause, because turning it back on restores the previous sharing.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Apple Support: Share your location with iPhone
• iPhone User Guide: Share your location in Find My on iPhone
• Personal Safety User Guide: Find My and location sharing
• Personal Safety User Guide: Checklist 2: Manage location information
• Personal Safety User Guide: Safety Check for an iPhone with iOS 16 or later