The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20110902085902/http://www.apple.com:80/iphone/features/find-my-iphone.html

iPhone

Find My iPhone

If you lose your iPhone, help is only a tap away.

See Find My iPhone in action

Locate your iPhone on a map.

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People misplace things all the time. Fortunately, if you lose your iPhone, Find My iPhone can help. Enable Find My iPhone in Settings.* Then if you misplace your iPhone, you can sign in to me.com from any computer web browser or using the Find My iPhone app on another iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to display its approximate location on a map.

It’s easy to activate this feature on your iPhone. All it takes is a few easy steps. Learn how to set up Find My iPhone

Display a message or play a sound to help you find it.

Say you’ve just used Find My iPhone, and it turns out you left your iPhone at the doctor’s office. You can write a message and display it on your screen. Something like, “Oops, left my iPhone behind. Please call me at 408-555-0198.” Your message appears, even if the screen is locked. And if the map shows that your iPhone is nearby — perhaps in your office under a pile of papers — yet you still can’t find it, you can tell Find My iPhone to play a sound that overrides the volume or silent setting.

Set a passcode lock remotely.

If you realize that you left your iPhone in a public place, you may want to protect its contents until it’s safely back in your hands. Remotely set a four-digit passcode lock to prevent people from using your iPhone, accessing your personal information, or tampering with your settings.

Protect your privacy with Remote Wipe.

Addresses, phone numbers, email, photos. Your iPhone contains important and personal information — information you probably don’t want in the hands of a stranger. So if you lose your iPhone and displaying a message on it hasn’t resulted in its safe return, you can initiate a remote wipe to restore it to its factory settings. If you eventually find your iPhone, just connect it to your computer and use iTunes to restore the data from your most recent backup.

Find My iPhone app.

Because the unexpected happens in the most unexpected places, the Find My iPhone app can help you locate your missing iPhone even when you don’t have access to a computer. It’s free on the App Store and available to anyone. So if you misplace your device, download the Find My iPhone app on a friend’s iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and sign in to access all the Find My iPhone features on the spot.
Get the Find My iPhone app