What to do when your phone warns about an unknown tracker

Bluetooth trackers were built to find keys, wallets and suitcases, but when one travels with a person while separated from its owner, phones now notice and raise an alert. On iPhone it arrives as “AirTag Found Moving With You” or “Unknown Accessory Detected”, and on Android as an unknown tracker alert. Most of the time the reason is mundane: a borrowed bag, a rental car, a family member's luggage. Even so, it is worth seeing for yourself rather than swiping the alert away — the steps below cover searching for the device, playing a sound, recording its details, disabling it, and keeping the alert system permanently on.

1. Do not dismiss the alert — tap it On iPhone the notification reads “AirTag Found Moving With You”, “AirPods Detected” or “Unknown Accessory Detected”; on Android it arrives as an unknown tracker alert. Tap it and look at the map that opens: it roughly shows the route the device travelled with you and where it first joined you. That map is the fastest way to narrow down which of your belongings to search. If you swipe the alert away without reading it, that information is gone.
2. Play a sound on iPhone On the alert screen tap “Continue” and then “Play Sound”. If the device is in range it plays a short chime; repeat it a few times in a quiet room until you hear it. Playing the sound is not reported to the device's owner, and neither is the number of attempts. Take your headphones off, turn the volume up and cut down background noise.
3. Use “Find Nearby” on iPhone for directions On iPhone models with an Ultra Wideband chip, if the unknown device is an AirTag or an AirPods Pro 3 charging case, the alert screen offers “Find Nearby”. Tap it and the screen shows an arrow and a distance; follow the arrow as you get closer. Precision Finding only works reliably at short range in open space and can wander when there is a wall in between. If the option is missing, the device does not support it — go back to playing a sound.
4. Play a sound and run a manual scan on Android Tap the notification and use “Play sound” on the map that opens. If you would rather not wait for an alert, scan on demand: Settings → Safety and emergency → Unknown tracker alerts → “Scan now”. The scan takes about 10 seconds and lists nearby trackers that are separated from their owner; it works even if your location setting is off. On Android 11 and below the path is different: Settings → Google → Personal and device safety → Unknown tracker alerts.
5. Work through your belongings one by one Trackers are the size of a coin or a credit card, so they disappear easily. Start with the bottom and lining pockets of your bag, the hood lining of a coat, your wallet, luggage tags and wheel wells, a pushchair, under a bicycle saddle and your gym bag. If you drive, check under the bumper, the spare wheel well, the boot lining and under the seats. Searching while the sound is playing is far quicker than searching blind.
6. Record the device's details before you touch anything else Hold the top back of your phone against the device to read its NFC chip: the page that opens in your browser can show the serial number and, if the owner marked it as lost, the last four digits of their phone number. Screenshot that page. If a serial number or code is printed on the body of the device, photograph that too, and note the time the alert arrived along with the map. Do this before disabling it — a device that has been reset no longer gives up these details.
7. Disable the device On an AirTag, press down on the polished stainless steel cover and turn it counterclockwise until it stops, then lift the cover off and take out the CR2032 coin battery. With the battery out the device stops broadcasting its location; put the battery back and it works again, so you are not damaging anything permanently. For other brands, iOS shows “Instructions to Disable” on the alert screen and Android links straight to the manufacturer's own page (Chipolo, Pebblebee, Motorola Moto Tag and so on); the steps vary by brand, so follow the maker's instructions. Do not force the cover or break the device — removing the battery is enough.
8. Also check SmartThings for a Galaxy SmartTag On a Galaxy phone, open SmartThings, go to the “Life” tab, open the “Find” card and tap the three dots at the top right, then “Settings”. Switch on unknown tag detection there; the same section also lets you start a search for unregistered tags nearby. This does not replace Android's own unknown tracker alerts — it runs alongside them, so keep both switched on.
9. Keep the alerts switched on for good On iPhone, four things must be on: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services; on the same screen System Services → “Find My iPhone”; Settings → Bluetooth; and Settings → Notifications → “Tracking Notifications” → Allow Notifications. Keep airplane mode off. AirTags and Find My network accessories need iOS 14.5 or later, other brands of Bluetooth tracker need iOS 17.5 or later. On Android, leave “Allow alerts” on under Settings → Safety and emergency → Unknown tracker alerts, and keep location on so automatic alerts can fire.
10. If the alert leaves you uneasy, follow a calm order Do the search somewhere bright and busy rather than somewhere isolated, and if you can, have someone you trust with you. Collect the screenshots, the serial number, the alert timestamps and the map in a single note; if the same alert comes back, that record makes everything easier. Rather than throwing the device away, take the battery out and keep it in a closed box. Apple and Google both say in their own support pages that if you do not feel safe you should move to a safe public place and ask for help — you do not have to sort this out on your own.

⚠ This guide is general information. Yudum cannot be held responsible for the outcome of following it; for official procedures always rely on the institution's own statement. Steps and fees change over time.

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