Smartphone Privacy & Security Guides

Quick answer: To stop someone from tracking your phone, turn off location sharing (Find My on iPhone, Google Maps and Find Hub on Android), sign unfamiliar devices out of your Apple and Google accounts, remove any tracking or “monitoring” apps, change your account passwords, and turn on two-factor authentication. If you can’t be sure the phone is clean, a factory reset without restoring an old backup removes almost everything. Most tracking runs on ordinary features and stolen account access — not sophisticated hacking — so closing those doors usually ends it fast. Feeling watched through your own phone is unsettling, but in most cases you can take back control in an afternoon. This Infurpose guide walks through exactly what to switch off on an iPhone and an Android, in order, plus how to tell when the problem is a hidden app versus a simple shared setting. For the full picture of how to know you’re being tracked in the first place, pair this with our pillar guide on whether your phone is being tracked. Last updated July 2026 · Written by Samuel Smith, who covers everyday phone privacy and digital safety at Infurpose for non-technical readers. Every step is written for everyday phone owners, not IT pros. How phones get tracked in the first place Before you start flipping switches, it helps to know what you’re closing off. Nearly all personal phone tracking comes from one of four sources: built-in location sharing you (or someone with your passcode) turned on; shared or compromised accounts, where someone signed into your Apple ID or Google account sees your location and data; third-party apps like family locators; and stalkerware, hidden monitoring apps installed by someone with physical access to your phone. The steps below shut down all four, starting with the easy wins. How to stop tracking on an iPhone Work through these in order — the first two solve most cases: Stop sharing your location. Open Find My > People and stop sharing with anyone who shouldn’t see you. Then go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and review which apps have access — set anything unnecessary to “Never” or “While Using.” Check your Apple Account devices. In Settings > [your name], scroll to the device list and remove any device you don’t recognize. A device signed into your Apple ID can see synced data and location. Review Significant Locations. Under Location Services > System Services > Significant Locations, you can see — and clear — the history of places your phone logs. Remove suspicious apps and profiles. Delete any app you don’t recognize, and check Settings > General > VPN & Device Management for configuration profiles you didn’t install, which stalkerware sometimes uses. Change your Apple ID password and turn on two-factor. Do this from a device the other person doesn’t control. Our 2FA and account security guide covers it. From experience, the order that works is to first stop sharing your location directly with people in Find My or Google Maps, then go through your app permissions and turn off location access — especially “Always” and precise location. The one people forget is the separate Google Maps location-sharing list: turning off Find My or app permissions doesn’t remove anyone already listed there. How to stop tracking on an Android The Android equivalents live mostly in your Google account and Maps: Turn off Google location sharing. In Google Maps, tap your profile > Location sharing and stop sharing with anyone listed. This is the most common way Android phones get followed. Check your Google account devices. Go to Settings > Google > Manage your Google Account > Security, review “Your devices,” and sign out anything you don’t recognize. Change your Google password while you’re there. Review your Location History / Timeline. In your Google account settings you can pause Location History and delete stored location data. Run Google Play Protect. Open the Play Store, tap your profile, and run Play Protect > Scan to flag known stalkerware. Then open Settings > Apps and remove anything named like “track,” “monitor,” or “spy,” or that you don’t remember installing. Check device admin apps. Under Settings > Security > Device admin apps, disable any app you don’t recognize — stalkerware often hides here to resist removal. When to consider a factory reset If you’ve done the steps above and still see signs of tracking — or you simply can’t be sure the phone is clean — a factory reset is the reliable reset button. It removes essentially all hidden apps and stalkerware. The critical caveat: don’t restore from a full backup made while the phone was compromised, because that can bring the problem right back. Instead, save your photos and important files individually, reset the device, set it up fresh, and change your passwords afterward. Our guide on finding and removing spy apps walks through this in more detail. A safety note before you change anything If the person tracking you may be an abusive partner or someone who could react dangerously, be careful. Suddenly cutting off their access — removing an app or stopping location sharing — can tip them off and, in some cases, escalate the situation. Consider making a safety plan first with the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) or the NNEDV Safety Net program, and use a device the other person can’t access while you decide. Your physical safety matters more than closing a setting five minutes sooner. Frequently asked questions Can someone track my phone if location services are off? Turning off Location Services stops GPS-based app tracking, but someone signed into your Apple or Google account may still see limited location or activity, and cell-network data can approximate your position. That’s why you should also remove unknown devices from your accounts and change your passwords, not just toggle GPS. Does turning off my phone stop tracking? Powering the phone off stops live location updates while it’s off, but it’s only a temporary fix — tracking resumes when you turn it back on unless you’ve removed the underlying cause. Fixing the source (shared settings, account access, or a hidden app) is what actually stops it. How do I know if it’s an app or just a shared setting? Start with the settings: if stopping location sharing and removing unknown account devices ends the tracking, it was a shared setting. If someone still seems to know your location or activity afterward, suspect a hidden app and run Play Protect (Android) or check the App Privacy Report (iPhone), then consider a reset. Will changing my password stop someone tracking me? Often, yes — if the tracking came from someone signed into your Apple ID or Google account, changing the password (from a device they don’t control) and turning on two-factor authentication locks them out. Combine it with signing out unknown devices so an existing session can’t continue. Can I stop tracking without a factory reset? Usually. Most tracking relies on location sharing or account access, both of which you can shut off directly. Reserve a factory reset for cases where you’ve turned off sharing, secured your accounts, and still see evidence of monitoring, which points to a hidden app. The bottom line Stopping someone from tracking your phone comes down to closing the doors they’re using: turn off location sharing, remove unknown devices from your Apple and Google accounts, delete monitoring apps, change your passwords, and turn on two-factor authentication — with a factory reset as the last resort. Because most tracking uses ordinary features rather than elaborate hacks, these steps end it for the large majority of people. If safety is a concern, plan the timing with a support line first. For more on detecting surveillance and locking down your device, explore the guides here at Infurpose.

Smartphone Privacy & Security Guides for Everyday People

Can You Protect Your Cell From a Hacker?

Can You Protect Your Cell From a Hacker?

Spy Apps: How to Find Them

Hidden App Permissions on iPhone

Lock Screen Bypass: Safe Fixes

Secure Your Phone Now

Is Someone Watching Your Phone?

Phone Privacy Step-by-Step

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