How to track your lost MacBook with Find My Mac

Provided the Find My service is enabled — which it usually is by default — finding a lost MacBook is relatively straightforward, but not as easy as with a phone or watch. Apple’s Find My service uses its vast network of Apple devices to help narrow down the location of your devices. iPhones and Watches are easier to track owing to their built-in GPS and cellular data modems, but Macs only have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and tracking them down is thus a little more challenging.

If you’ve lost your Mac, here’s what you can do

Open the Find My app on one of your other Apple devices or head to the Find My website. Here, select Devices and select your missing Macbook.

If the device has been located, you have a few options. You could just play a sound and you can trace the device’s location that way, but this is only useful if the device is nearby.

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If the device is stolen or otherwise unrecoverable, you can also put it into Lost Mode. This locks the device remotely over the internet and is inaccessible to anyone. The device is lost, but at least your precious data and account are safe. Even if the device hasn’t been located, enabling Lost Mode will put the device into Lost Mode when it next goes online.

Lastly, you can use Find My to erase the device remotely. This not only erases the device but also prevents anyone from using the device despite it being erased. It’s common to receive threats or requests from thieves to disconnect the device from your iCloud account, but under no circumstances should you do so. As long as the device is still connected to your iCloud account, thieves cannot easily break into your device and make it functional again

Some precautions

Devices are lost or stolen all the time, and it’s better to be prepared for any such eventuality. The first thing you need to do the moment you realise that your device is lost or stolen is to change your iCloud account password. A lot of data is tied to your iCloud account, including personal information, saved passwords, personal photos, and more. Changing the password immediately and locking the lost device will prevent anyone with bad intent from stealing your information or otherwise damaging your account.

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Secondly, implement and stick to a reasonable backup strategy. The easiest option is to use iCloud backup, but you can also use third-party tools like BackBlaze or Google Drive for essential data backups.

Stay safe, and learn how to secure your digital life against mishaps. It might seem too much hassle at first, but if and when something happens, you’ll be glad you had a plan in place.