How to know if someone is tracking your phone

Only the sharing lists your phone already keeps can answer this from documentation. Apple's Safety Check and Google's Location sharing list show every person you currently share a location with, and both phones raise an alert when an unknown Bluetooth tracker travels with you. Start there: it is the part of this question the vendors actually put in writing.

The Safety Net Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence puts it plainly: "Making changes will often alert the other person, and they might become more abusive." Read the safety page on this site before you change anything.

Review who you share with: iPhone

Apple's Personal Safety User Guide describes Safety Check — at Settings, Privacy & Security, Safety Check — as a feature that "enables you to quickly review, update, and stop sharing your information with individual people and apps". Its Manage Sharing & Access step says: "Review who has access to your information, including your location," then "Tap People: Select people in the list, review the information shared with people, then decide which information you want to stop sharing with selected people."

The same guide lists what Safety Check cannot see: "Non-Apple accounts and passwords", "Social media sharing", and "Devices where you're signed in to a different Apple Account". The Find My People tab is the second list.

Review who you share with: Android and Google

Google's equivalent list is Location Sharing: on Android, Settings, Location, Location services, Google Location Sharing; on a computer, myaccount.google.com, People & sharing, Location Sharing. Next to each name there is a Stop. Google documents that a person you share with "can always find your: Name and photo. Device's recent location even when Google apps aren't being used."

Unknown Bluetooth trackers

Both platforms detect tags moving with you. Apple names its alerts — "AirTag Found Moving With You", "Unknown Accessory Detected" — and the steps: tap the alert, tap Continue, then Play Sound, or Find Nearby on a supported iPhone. Until it is disabled, Apple notes, "the owner might be able to see its location".

On Android: Settings, Safety & emergency, Unknown tracker alerts, Scan now — about ten seconds for a manual scan. Google says it "currently work[s] with Find Hub network compatible tags, headphones, and Apple AirTags", and that "You won't notify the owner if you play the sound."

What none of this covers

A managed device is a separate question with its own answer: Apple says an administrator can view a supervised device's location only through Managed Lost Mode, which locks it and shows a notification, while Google says "If any of your work apps collect location data, your administrator might be able to see your location." Beyond the lists above, no vendor documents a way to detect being followed, and this site does not recommend apps that claim to.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline takes calls on 800-799-7233 and texts of START to 88788. Advocates do this every day and can help you plan the order.

Checked 2026-09-17 against: Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Safety Check for an iPhone with iOS 16 or later, Apple Personal Safety User Guide — Manage Location Services settings, Apple Support — What to do if you get an alert that an AirTag, set of AirPods, Find My network accessory, or compatible Bluetooth location-tracking device is with you, Android Help — Find unknown trackers, Google Maps Help — Manage your Location Sharing settings (Android), Google Maps Help — Share your real-time location with others in Google Maps (iPhone & iPad), Android Enterprise Help — Turn your work profile location on or off, Apple Support — If you have a supervised iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro, Safety Net Project (NNEDV) — Location Tracking, The National Domestic Violence Hotline — Internet Safety for Survivors · Apple Personal Safety User Guide, Apple and Google support pages, read 2026-09-17

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

Where to go next

Use the real switch

Question How to turn off location without notifying It depends on the app, and only Apple and Snapchat answer it in writing. Apple says the person you stop sharing with won't be notified, and its own safety guide adds that they may notice you have stopped; Snapchat says friends you pick for a location setting aren't notified when you choose them. Life360, Google Maps and Instagram document what the other person's screen shows instead, which is not the same promise. Question How to tell if someone turned off their location Not reliably. Every one of these apps shows the same thing whether a person turned sharing off, switched their phone off, or lost signal: a stale pin, a short label, or nothing at all. The vendors document what those labels say; none of them documents a message that means "this person turned it off". Question Can someone see if I turn off my location? It depends on the app. Apple says "The person that you stop sharing with won't be notified", while Life360 says your Circle sees a "Location Sharing Paused" label under your name. Snapchat, Instagram and Google Maps document what the other person's screen shows and say nothing at all about notifying them. 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 Google Maps Google Maps has three separate location switches. Location sharing sends your live position to people you chose, Timeline keeps a record of where you have been, and the app's location permission in phone settings decides whether Maps can read your position at all. Turning one off leaves the other two on. iOS 27 · iPadOS 27 iPhone & iPad One master switch, one switch per app, and a precise-or-approximate choice underneath each. Most people want the second one.