It can be a frustrating experience to try and find a lost or misplaced iPhone, particularly when it’s set to vibrate/silent. Follow along for two easy ways to locate your iPhone.

Apple offers a couple of handy ways to find your misplaced iPhone (and other Apple devices) even when it’s set to vibrate/silent. Whether you’ve never used these features before or it’s just been a little while, let’s dive in!

One last thing to keep in mind, your lost iPhone will need to be powered on for the best chance of success, although there may be some hope if not.

How to find a lost iPhone even when it’s set to vibrate/silent

Option 1

Find My iPhone is a super handy app that will make your iPhone ring even when it’s set to vibrate/ring. Keep in mind you’ll need to have the feature turned on in settings under iCloud  → Find My iPhone. If you happen to be reading this before you’ve lost or misplaced your device it’s also helpful to turn on Send Last Location which automatically uploads this data to Apple just before your battery is about to die.

  • Open Find My iPhone, or download it from the App Store here
  • Tap on the device you’ve lost from the list shown
  • Tap Play Sound

Option 2

If you have an Apple Watch, there is a slick iPhone ping feature built right in. You also don’t need Find My iPhone to be turned on in iCloud settings for this to work.

  • Swipe up from the bottom of your Apple Watch to open Control Center
  • Tap on the ping iPhone icon as seen below

If your lost iPhone or other device has a dead battery, make sure to try and use the Find My iPhone app to at least see its last location. Sometimes that may be enough to jog your memory or put you on the path to finding it.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:

  • How to easily change the color of individual folders in macOS [Video]
  • How to use iPhone and iPad as a magnifying glass
  • How to protect your iPhone data with privacy controls built in to iOS 11
  • How to check your iPhone’s warranty & repair coverage
  • How to use Podcasts stations to play episode playlists like ‘daily news shows’ on HomePod