We’ve all been there, you reach to your side to pick up your iPad, but it’s not there. No problem, must have left it on the desk. Not their either, uh oh. I’m sure there are a few more places you can look, but eventually you’ll be wondering if there is an app to help you find your missing tablet.
Also known as Find My iPhone, Find My iPad is the fastest and most effective way of reconnecting you with your iOS device. Because this is a service that relies on the OS more than the hardware, most of your more recent iPads will work, including your iPad Pro, iPad Pro 9.7, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and so much more.
Step 1: Open iCloud
Find My iPad does rely on you having at least one iCloud email account active on the device, so if you haven’t done this already, head to Settings -> iCloud.
From there, you need to activate ‘Find My iPad’ (usually turned off by default) and you can do this by visiting Settings, iCloudand then by tapping the On/Off slider beside the Find My iPad field.
Upon doing this, locating your iPad is pretty easy should you lose it or if it is stolen.
Simply Log in to iCloud using any web browser and then select ‘Find My iPad’. iCloud will then immediately search for each iOS device registered to the account using GPS and will show where they are on the map. Using the standard map layout, you can zoom into the area.
Step 2: Play a sound
If the pin on the map shows the iPad to be in your house or nearby if you are out and about, then your best option is to send a sound to the device.
To do this, you’ll need to hit Devices, select your iPad and then Play Sound. This pushes a rather annoying alarm ring to the iPad for two minutes, although this can be quickly deactivated if your iPad happens to be in the hands of someone else.
Step 3: Send a message and lock the device
If that doesn’t work, you should look to take the next step, which is locking the device. Using the same iCloud landing page, select Lost Mode and you will then be prompted to enter a telephone number and short message to send to the iPad.
On sending this, anyone that has your iPad will be faced with the message, your phone number and will not be able to unlock the device unless he/she has your iPad pin code. They will however have 10 attempts to try and guess it before the iPad locks for good.
Step 4: The last resort – remotely wipe the iPad
The fourth step – and last resort – may be the only option left if the iPad remains unreturned at this point.
It is that of remotely wiping your iPad from all data and by that I mean everything from photos and documents to apps on the device.
To enable remote wipe simply touch Erase iPad and you’ll then be asked to confirm if you wish to erase data on your selected model. On doing so, you will no longer be able to use Find My iPad to locate it or to play a sound.
All is not lost (no pun intended) if you do remotely wipe the device and then discover it later. Providing you backed up to iCloud or iTunes prior to losing it, you should be able to restore all information.
Do you have a fun success story for how Find my iPad helped you recover a lost tablet?
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