Gotta find iPad

iOS update

The vague feeling where would I have kept it! The nagging thought, where would I have lost it! In case this happens, with the following few simple steps you can enable the location service to locate your iPad in case it gets stolen or misplaced. All you need is to use find my iPhone feature which 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.

Go to iCloud and locate your iPad

iCloud to find my iPad

Find My iPhone or iPad does rely on you having at least one iCloud email account active on the device, so if you haven’t done this already, go to Settings then click on iCloud. From there, you need to activate ‘Find My iPad’ (usually turned off by default) and you can do this by visiting Settings, iCloud and 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. Your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will also mark its location when its battery is critically low, to help you find it even if it runs out of power.

So when you 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.

Play a sound

Play a sound to find your iPad

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.

Send a message and lock the device

Lost mode in Ipad

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.  So if your device goes missing, put it in Lost Mode to lock it immediately and start tracking its location. Find My iPhone will show you where it’s been over the last 24 hours. You can also display a message with a contact number on your device’s Lock screen, so whoever finds it can call you without accessing the rest of its information.

Use Activation Lock

Lock your iPad

Also there is Activation Lock that is designed to prevent anyone from using or selling your device. The moment you turn on Find My iPhone, your Apple ID and password will be required before anyone can turn off Find My iPhone, erase your device or reactivate it. 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.

Remote Erase your iPad

Remote erase your iPad

This is the last resort and 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 it means 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 if you do remotely wipe the device and then discover it later providing you backed up to iCloud or iTunes prior to losing it, as you should be able to restore all information.

To find out more click here to know what Apple supports offer to locate your iPad.