What still sees you About
Find my switch
TurnOffLocation Devices Mac

Device hub

How to turn off location on Mac

One switch in System Settings turns Location Services off for the whole Mac, and every app and system service under it has its own. Sharing your location with people is a different switch again, inside Find My. Apple says that even with Location Services off, third-party applications and websites may still use other ways to determine your location.

macOS 27 Golden Gate

The master switch

Turn off Location Services

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. Privacy & Security
  4. Location Services
  5. Off

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Control access to the location of your Mac, Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Manage Location Services settings

Do they get told?Whether anyone is told that you turned Location Services off on a Mac is not documented on Apple's page. What Apple does document is the effect: your precise location is no longer sent to Apple, and apps and websites stop getting your position from Location Services.
Who can still see you
Off
Apps and websites on this Mac
They stop getting your position from Location Services, and Apple says your precise location is no longer sent to Apple.
Still on
Find My Mac and your other devices
Find My Mac and the location sharing in Find My are separate switches and stay exactly as you left them.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Apple says third-party applications and websites may still use other ways to determine your location. Your IP address alone places you roughly.

Apple's page says your Mac works out where it is from information from local Wi-Fi networks.

One app at a time

Stop one app using your location

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. Privacy & Security
  4. Location Services
  5. the app
  6. Off

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Control access to the location of your Mac

Who can still see you
Off
That one app
The app can no longer read your position from Location Services, so it has nothing to send or show.
Still on
Every other app in the list
Each app in the Location Services list keeps its own switch. Changing one changes nothing else.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Apple says third-party applications and websites may still use other ways to determine your location.

Stop websites knowing where you are

in the browser
Path
  1. Safari
  2. Settings
  3. Websites
  4. Location
  5. Deny

From the vendor’s own page · Safari on macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Change Websites settings in Safari on Mac, Apple Support — Customize settings for each website in Safari on Mac

Who can still see you
Off
Websites you open in Safari
Apple's wording for Deny is that the site can't use your location, so Safari stops handing it over.
Still on
Apps, and any other browser
This is a Safari setting. Apps in the Location Services list and other browsers keep their own permissions.
Still visible
Every site you open
A site still sees your IP address, which places you to roughly the right town without asking permission.

The When visiting other websites pop-up menu sets the answer for any website you have not already chosen a setting for.

Sharing with people

Stop sharing your location with everyone

inside the Find My app
Path
  1. Find My
  2. Me
  3. Share My Location
  4. Off

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Stop sharing your location in Find My on Mac, Apple Support — Share your location in Find My on Mac

Do they get told?Apple does not document a notification to the people you were sharing with. It documents what changes on their side: when you stop sharing, your contact can no longer see you in Find My, and all location notifications they created about you are turned off.
Who can still see you
Off
Everyone you were sharing with
Every share ends at once and the location alerts your contacts set up about you are turned off with it.
Still on
Find My Mac, and every app
Locating your own Mac and each app's Location Services switch are separate and stay on.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Your IP address and the Wi-Fi networks around you still place you roughly, whatever Find My is set to.

Apple's page says that if you only have a Mac, you can't share your location: the share comes from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple Watch on the same Apple Account.

Stop sharing with one person

inside the Find My app
Path
  1. Find My
  2. People
  3. the person
  4. More
  5. Stop Sharing My Location

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Stop sharing your location in Find My on Mac

Do they get told?A notification to that person is not documented on Apple's Mac page. What is documented is that the contact can no longer see you in Find My, and that all location notifications they created about you are turned off.
Who can still see you
Off
That one person
You disappear from their Find My, and any location alerts they set up about you stop with the share.
Still on
Everyone else you share with
Only one share changed. Share My Location and every other person on the People list stay as they were.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Your IP address and the Wi-Fi networks around you still place you roughly, whatever Find My is set to.

The same page prints Hide Location in the My Location section as the way to pause a share rather than end it.

Turn off Find My Mac

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. your name
  4. iCloud
  5. See All
  6. Find My Mac
  7. Turn Off

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 15 or later, as named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Turn off Find My on your devices and items, Apple Support — Set up Find My on Mac

Who can still see you
Off
Locating this Mac in Find My
The Mac stops reporting to Find My, so it can no longer be located, locked or erased from another device.
Still on
Location Services and your shares
This is a different switch from Location Services and from Share My Location. Both keep the setting you gave them.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Your IP address and the Wi-Fi networks around you still place the Mac roughly whenever it is online.

Apple's page says that when you turn off Find My on your Mac, Activation Lock is automatically removed.

System services

Turn off a system service that uses location

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. Privacy & Security
  4. Location Services
  5. System Services
  6. Details
  7. Off

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Control access to the location of your Mac

Who can still see you
Off
The services you switch off here
Each system service behind the Details button stops using your location once you turn that one off.
Still on
Every app in the list above
System Services sits below the app list and is separate from it. Apps keep the switches you gave them.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Apple says third-party applications and websites may still use other ways to determine your location.

Apple names Suggestions & Search and Significant locations among the services behind the Details button.

Turn it back on, or fix it

Turn Location Services back on

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. Privacy & Security
  4. Location Services
  5. On

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Control access to the location of your Mac

Who can still see you
Off
Apps you have not switched back on
The master switch does not switch any app back on. Each app in the list keeps the setting you last gave it.
Still on
Apps and services already set to on
Anything still switched on in the list can read your position again as soon as the master switch is on.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Your IP address and the Wi-Fi networks around you place you roughly either way. This switch was never what hid that.

Let one app use your location again

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. Privacy & Security
  4. Location Services
  5. the app
  6. On

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 27 Golden Gate, the version named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Support — Set up Find My on Mac, Apple Support — Control access to the location of your Mac

Who can still see you
Off
Every other app in the list
You changed one row. Nothing else in the Location Services list moves with it.
Still on
That one app
It can read your position again. Apple prints this as two halves: Location Services on, then the app on.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Your IP address and the Wi-Fi networks around you place you roughly whatever any single app is allowed to do.

An app switch does nothing on its own: Apple prints turning on Location Services and turning on the app as one sequence.

The switch is dimmed and will not move

in System Settings
Path
  1. Apple menu
  2. System Settings
  3. Privacy & Security
  4. Location Services
  5. Unlock

From the vendor’s own page · macOS 13 or later, as named on Apple's page, read 2026-09-17 · checked 2026-09-17 · source: Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Manage Location Services settings, Apple Support — Change Preference Restrictions settings in Screen Time on Mac

Who can still see you
Off
The switch, until you unlock it
Apple's step is to turn it on or off, enter your password if asked, then click Unlock.
Still on
Everything already allowed
Nothing changes while the switch is locked. Every app keeps the setting it already had.
Still visible
Websites and the network
Your IP address and the Wi-Fi networks around you place you roughly whether or not this switch will move.

Apple's macOS 27 Screen Time pages do not name a Location Services restriction, so a dimmed switch is not documented as a Screen Time effect on Mac.

If someone is tracking you against your will, turning a setting off may not be the safest first step. Read this first.

Related

Where to go next

Question Does airplane mode turn off location? No. Airplane mode is a switch for radios: Apple's page says it "turns off all radios except for Bluetooth", and Google's says Wi-Fi and Bluetooth go off with it. Neither company's airplane-mode page mentions Location Services, GPS or location of any kind. App guide Find My Find My has one switch per person, a one-day pause per person, and one master switch for everyone; Messages, Maps and Contacts all reach the same share. Apple's sharing page says the person you stop sharing with is not notified. Apple's safety guide adds that they may notice you have stopped. App guide Photos & Camera A photo can carry the place it was taken in three copies at once: the one you send, the original in your library, and every new photo the camera takes. Apple and Google document a different switch for each. Turning one off leaves the other two as they were.