[6 Ways] How to Hide Location on iPhone

Don't know how to mask your location on iPhone? Keep on reading to get these useful 6 ways!

Kathy by Kathy Updated February 22, 2024
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Wondering how to conceal your iPhone location without detection? Numerous motives drive this need, from privacy concerns to personal space. Whether avoiding scrutiny on Find My Friends or circumventing location checks at school or work, hiding your whereabouts proves invaluable. Fortunately, masking your iPhone location is straightforward. In this guide, you can know how to disguise your location on iPhone.

hide location on iPhone

How to hide location on iPhone

If you've granted location access to certain apps, they can track your whereabouts even when inactive. Discover the top methods to conceal your iPhone's location from various apps and individuals.

Method 1. Disable the Share My Location service

Disabling Location Services directly will deactivate all apps using GPS. However, the following steps only stop your location from being shared:

Navigate to Settings and locate Privacy > Select Location Services > Choose Share My Location and toggle it off using the slider.

share my location

By using this method, your contacts will receive a notification indicating you are off the map. Despite deactivating Share My Location, you can still grant GPS access to specific apps.

Method 2. Enable the Airplane Mode

In contrast to certain Android devices, activating Airplane mode on iOS devices disables GPS. This is the simplest method to deactivate GPS and disrupt location services.

To enable Airplane Mode, you can swipe down from the top to access Control Center > Tap the Airplane Mode icon to disable cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Or you can open the Settings app > Toggle the Airplane Mode switch to the on position.

turn on atrplane mode

Method 3. Disable the Location Sharing within the Find My Friends app

Apple provides the Find My Friends app, allowing friends and contacts to locate you swiftly without prior arrangements. However, if you wish to maintain privacy, access the "Find My" section in Settings to disable location sharing. This method effectively conceals your whereabouts, albeit with notifications sent to your contacts.

Just navigate to Settings > Select your profile by tapping on your name > Choose Find My > Toggle off Share My Location to conceal your location from contacts.

share location

Method 4. Use the Location Services to mask location

Apple's robust security measures and extensive customization options are key reasons for its popularity. Within the Location Services settings, you can further enhance privacy by controlling app access to your location.

Navigate to the Settings menu and select "Privacy," then tap on "Location Services" > Use the toggle slider next to Location Services to globally enable or disable access to your location for all apps and services.

For granular control, manage individual app permissions by tapping on the desired app. Choose from options like "Never," "Always," or "While Using" to specify when the app can access your location.

location services

Method 5. Disable location for system services

The iPhone offers extensive settings options for fine-tuning preferences, including the ability to manage location settings through System Services. Here's how to mask location on iPhone.

Open Settings and navigate to the Privacy tab > Locate Location Services and select System Services to access the desired settings menu > Then you'll find a range of options for customizing location sharing. To completely disable access, toggle off Significant Locations, which stores your iPhone's location history.

Additionally, under Significant Locations, you have the option to clear previously logged locations by tapping the Clear History button.

significant services

Method 6. Use a VPN to disguise your location

A VPN, or virtual private network, conceals your IP address and creates a secure, encrypted tunnel for accessing the internet. However, while most VPNs mask your IP, not all hide your physical location. Premium VPNs like ExpressVPN offer built-in location-changing features.

Yet, top-tier VPN services can be costly, and beware of free VPNs that may compromise your privacy. Opt for trusted providers like Private Internet Access or ExpressVPN.

To set up a VPN, download and install the app, grant necessary permissions, and follow prompts for configuration. Finally, in your iPhone's Settings app, navigate to General and toggle the VPN provider on.

These are all about how to hide location on iPhone. If you need a powerful tool to protect your iPhone data from loss, you can keep on reading to find answers!

Bonus: How to protect iPhone data with the professional FoneTool

iPhone data security has long been a priority for Apple users, especially as data accumulates over time. To safeguard against sudden loss and free up memory, backing up or transferring data is essential.

For this, we recommend FoneTool, an all-in-one iPhone data management app. Enjoy its many benefits:

blush Lightning-fast transfer/backups: Move thousands of photos in minutes with its high-speed transfer.
blush No Apple ID limitations: Easily transfer data between iPhones, even with different Apple IDs or forgotten credentials.
blush Preview and selective backup: Choose which files to back up, unlike iTunes/iCloud's full backup.
blush Universal restore: Restore backups to another iPhone effortlessly.
blush Wide compatibility: Works with various iPhone models, iPads, iPod Touch, and the latest iOS versions.

Download FoneTool on your Windows PC and discover efficient iPhone data management, such as transferring photos to your computer.

Download Freeware Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 1. Connect your iPhone to PC with a USB cable > Launch FoneTool and choose the Phone Transfer option > Then click iPhone to PC and choose Get Started.

transfer photos

Step 2. Check the Photos icon to preview and choose the targeted photos > Click OK to continue.

select photos

Step 3. Click Transfer Setting to choose the storage path on your computer > Click Start Transfer to begin.

start transfer

Conclusion

From this passage, you can know how to hide location on iPhone. To protect iPhone data from loss, you can choose the professional FoneTool to backup or transfer your iPhone data to the Windows PC. 

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