Flipping over everything in your house to look for a missing item is draining, time-consuming, and downright frustrating. With the iOS feature Notify When Left Behind, you can make your iPhone or iPad notify you if you leave an Apple device or accessory somewhere to help you avoid this as much as possible.
Here’s how to set up Notify When Left Behind to keep track of all your belongings.
What Is Notify When Left Behind?
Notify When Left Behind allows your iPhone to alert you if you leave supported devices, like an iPhone, AirTag, or supported third-party accessories, like a Beats earbuds, in an unknown location.
The feature works by alerting you anytime any of your paired devices are separated from your iPhone. You receive a notification stating that your device or accessory has been left behind and is no longer detected near you. The notification also tells you where that item was last seen.
Related: How to Use the Find Devices, Find Items, and Find People Apps on Apple Watch
What You’ll Need to Use Notify When Left Behind
The feature works with newer Apple devices. These include:
You’ll need an iPhone 12 or later to use Notify When Left Behind with AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, or AirPods (3rd generation).
The feature also currently supports the following third-party products:
MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAYHow to Set Up Notify When Left Behind
Before you start setting up the feature, update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS. You also need to set up Find My on your device. To enable the feature on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad:
Devices and accessories paired with your iPhone or set up and registered to your Apple ID account are automatically set up when you turn the Find My iPhone. If you want to find them even if they’re disconnected or turned off, be sure to enable Find My Network on your devices.
Now that everything’s ready, here’s how to enable the Notify When Left Behind feature:
3 Images ExpandExpandExpandSee Where You Left Your Item or Device
If you’ve successfully set Notify When Left Behind, you’ll now be notified whenever a device is left in an unknown location. To see where you left your device or item, simply tap on the notification that tells you that you left the item behind. Tap Continue to open the Find My app. From here you can do two things:
2 Images ExpandExpandFor AirPods left inside their case, you can only get these notifications for up to 24 hours.
How to Manage Trusted Locations
You can also manage the locations in Find My so that it doesn’t notify you whenever you leave devices or items in specific locations. This can be useful for setting your home or any other place you might intentionally leave devices. To manage your locations:
Locate Your Items Easily
Losing or misplacing an item can be tiring at best and anxiety-inducing or expensive at worst. Most of the time, minutes to hours have passed before we realize that our items or devices aren’t with us anymore. But that needn’t be the case with Notify When Left Behind.
Get peace of mind by getting notified as soon as you’ve been separated to your devices. You can also use your iPhone as an aid to get to your device ASAP.
Why Is Find My iPhone Offline? And How to Find It Anyway Read NextShareTweetShareEmail Related TopicsAbout The AuthorRachel Melegrito(158 Articles Published)Rachel Melegrito left her career as a university instructor to become a full-fledged content writer. She loves anything Apple —from iPhones, to Apple Watches, to MacBooks. She is also a licensed occupational therapist and a budding SEO strategist.
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