If you lose your iPhone and the battery dies or someone switches it off, it is easy to assume it can no longer be located. Apple's documents give three figures that apply after a phone goes dark, 24 hours, 5 hours and 7 days, and each refers to a different situation with different required settings.
24 hours after power-off is the period it can be found
The iPhone User Guide page Add your iPhone to Find My (iOS 27) says that with the Find My network turned on, a supported iPhone can be found for up to 24 hours after it is turned off, or up to 5 hours while in power reserve mode. The Find My network is used when the device is offline (not connected to Wi-Fi). Apple's support article describes it as a crowdsourced network of more than a billion Apple devices that uses Bluetooth to detect a device's location and report an approximate location to its owner.
Two conditions apply. First, the Find My network must be on; you can toggle it in Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone. Second, it must be a "supported iPhone." In the User Guide that phrase links to the list of models that support Ultra Wideband, which runs from the iPhone 11 series to the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max; iPhone SE, iPhone 16e and iPhone 17e are not on it. The page also notes that availability varies by country or region.
7 days is how long the last location remains
The same support article (published October 1, 2026) says that when a device's current location can't be shown, for example because its battery is drained, the Find My app can show its last known location for up to 7 days. If more than 7 days have passed since the device last sent its location through the Find My network, "No location found" appears instead.
The 7 days are counted from the last time the device sent its location. What stays on the map is that last reported location, so if the device was moved afterward, it may differ from where the phone is now.
"Send Last Location" is a separate 24 hours
With "Send Last Location" turned on, the device automatically sends its location to Apple when the battery is critically low. The support article says the device tries to upload its location just before it needs charging, and that location is shown on iCloud.com for up to 24 hours. This is separate from the 24 hours for finding a powered-off device through the Find My network: it is how long the location uploaded just before the battery died stays visible on iCloud.com.
| Situation | What the documents say | Required setting or condition |
|---|---|---|
| Powered on and connected to a network | Location shown at icloud.com/find | Find My iPhone |
| After power-off | Up to 24 hours | Find My network, supported iPhone |
| Power reserve mode | Up to 5 hours | Find My network, supported iPhone |
| Battery critically low | Location sent just before shutdown shown on iCloud.com for up to 24 hours | Send Last Location |
| Current location unavailable | Last location in the Find My app for up to 7 days, then "No location found" | — |
What to check now and what to do after a loss
The 24-hour and 5-hour windows and Send Last Location depend on settings turned on before the phone was lost. Check in Settings > [your name] > Find My > Find My iPhone that "Find My network" and "Send Last Location" are on, and that your model is on the supported list. If the setting was off or the model is not on the list, the 24-hour power-off and 5-hour power reserve windows do not apply.
If the phone is already lost, you can check its location and mark it as lost in the Find My app on another Apple device or at icloud.com/find. According to the support article, a device running iOS 15 or later can still be found with Find My even after it has been erased. If two-factor authentication is not on for your Apple Account, you cannot erase the device remotely from the Find My app; use iCloud.com or turn on two-factor authentication first. The article also notes an exception: if you change your Apple Account password with Stolen Device Protection on and in an unfamiliar location, the device's location may not appear at icloud.com/find.