How to check who can see your location
Check who can see your location in four places: your phone's own location sharing list, the location permission for each app, the map features inside social and messaging apps, and any family plan, car or fitness account. Remove anyone who should not be there. If you think a current or former partner is tracking you, talk to a domestic violence hotline before you remove access.
Why it matters: Forgotten shares, including ones with past partners, are common.
Steps
- Open your phone's location sharing settings and read the list of people who can see you.
- Open location permissions and set each app to never or while using, not always, unless it truly needs it.
- Open each social and messaging app and check its map or friends' location feature.
- Check family plans, shared cloud accounts, car apps and fitness apps for location sharing.
- Look for devices signed in to your cloud account that you do not recognize.
- Remove shares you no longer want, unless doing so could put you at risk; if so, plan with a hotline first.
- Put a reminder in your calendar to repeat the check every three months.
Stop and call a professional if
- you find sharing you never added, or you fear how someone will react when access is removed: contact a domestic violence hotline to plan first
Common mistakes
- Checking only the phone's main sharing list and missing app maps.
- Leaving apps on always allow for location.
- Removing a partner's access abruptly when you fear their reaction, without a plan.
Teach this to someone
A one page sheet for showing a friend, a teenager or a parent: what to say, what to show, and one question to check it landed.
Teach: How to check who can see your location
What to say
Check who can see your location in four places: your phone's own location sharing list, the location permission for each app, the map features inside social and messaging apps, and any family plan, car or fitness account. Remove anyone who should not be there. If you think a current or former partner is tracking you, talk to a domestic violence hotline before you remove access.
What to show
- Open your phone's location sharing settings and read the list of people who can see you.
- Open location permissions and set each app to never or while using, not always, unless it truly needs it.
- Open each social and messaging app and check its map or friends' location feature.
- Check family plans, shared cloud accounts, car apps and fitness apps for location sharing.
- Look for devices signed in to your cloud account that you do not recognize.
- Remove shares you no longer want, unless doing so could put you at risk; if so, plan with a hotline first.
- Put a reminder in your calendar to repeat the check every three months.
Where it stops
Stop and call a professional if you find sharing you never added, or you fear how someone will react when access is removed: contact a domestic violence hotline to plan first.
Check question
Which is often missed in a location audit?
Answer: Map features inside social apps. Social and messaging apps can share location separately from the phone's main list.
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Related skills
Sources
- US national cybersecurity guidance for individuals, 2026. Reviewed September 28, 2026.
Written in our own words from the sources above. It is general information, not advice for your situation; where a professional, your doctor or your lease says something different, follow them.
Last reviewed . First published .