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Manage Location Services settings
With your permission, Location Services allows apps (like Maps, Camera, Weather, and others) and websites to use information from various kinds of networks to determine your approximate or precise location. You can find Location Services on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
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When an app is using Location Services, the Location Services icon appears on iPhone and iPad (in the status bar at the top of the screen) and on Mac (in the menu bar).
Even if you disable Location Services, third-party apps and websites may still use other ways to determine your location. For safety, your device’s location information may be used for emergency calls to aid response efforts regardless of whether you turn on Location Services.
Find out how: To view a task below, select the plus button next to its title.
Turn off Location Services
When you set up a device, you’re asked if you want to turn on Location Services. After you’ve completed setup, you can turn Location Services on or off at any time.
On your iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings
> Privacy & Security > Location Services and turn off location sharing.
On your Mac running macOS 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, click Privacy & Security
, click Location Services, turn off Location Services, enter your password, then click Unlock.
On your Mac running macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Security & Privacy
, then click Privacy. Click Location Services. If the lock at the bottom left is locked
, click it to unlock the preference pane. Deselect Enable Location Services.
Turn on Location Services
When you set up a device, you’re asked if you want to turn on Location Services. After you’ve completed setup, you can turn Location Services on or off at any time.
If you didn’t turn on Location Services at setup:
On your iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings
> Privacy & Security > Location Services and turn on Location Services.
On your Mac running macOS 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, click Privacy & Security
, click Location Services, turn on Location Services, enter your password, then click Unlock.
On your Mac running macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Security & Privacy
, then click Privacy. Click Location Services. If the lock at the bottom left is locked
, click it to unlock the preference pane. Select Enable Location Services.
Specify which apps can use Location Services on iPhone or iPad
Some apps might not work unless you turn on Location Services. The first time an app needs to access your Location Services information, you receive a notification asking for permission. Choose one of these options:
Allow Once
Allow While Using App
Don’t Allow
You can also review or change an individual app’s access to your location for individual apps and indicate how often it may use your location. Instructions follow for iPhone and iPad.
Go to Settings
> Privacy & Security > Location Services and review or change access settings for an app.
To see its explanation for requesting Location Services, tap the app.
Determine how closely you want apps to know your location.
To allow an app to use your specific location, leave Precise Location turned on.
To share only your approximate location—which may be sufficient for an app that doesn’t need your exact location—you can turn Precise Location off.
Note: If you set the access for an app to Ask Next Time, you’re asked to turn on Location Services again the next time an app tries to use it.
Specify which apps can use Location Services on Mac
Do one of the following:
On your Mac running macOS 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
, click System Settings, click Privacy & Security
, click Location Services, turn off Location Services, enter your password, then click Unlock.
On your Mac running macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences > Security & Privacy
, click Location Services, then deselect Enable Location Services. You may need to first unlock System Preferences to make changes. To do this, click the Lock button
in the bottom-left corner, then enter your password.
Select the checkbox next to an app to allow it to use Location Services. Deselect the checkbox to turn off Location Services for that app.
If you turn Location Services off for an app, you’re asked to turn it on again the next time that app tries to use your location data.
Scroll to the bottom of the list of apps to reveal System Services, then click the Details button to see specific system services that use your location.
To allow the location of your Mac to be used by Siri Suggestions and Safari Suggestions, select Location-Based Suggestions.
To allow your Mac to identify places significant to you and provide useful related information in Maps, Calendar, Reminders, and more, select Significant Locations. Significant locations are encrypted and can’t be read by Apple. Click Details to view a list of locations that have been identified. To remove a location from the list, select it and click the Remove button
. To remove all the locations, click the More button
, then click Clear History.