Turning Off Location Sharing After a Separation: iPhone, Android and Snapchat

Safety first

Apple's safety guide asks you to plan for your safety before making changes: someone who suddenly can't see where you are may notice. If you are worried about how they will react, talk it through with a domestic violence advocate first; the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. If you are in danger, call 911.

Before you change anything, save the record

• Export the conversation if their messages show they knew where you were ("Why were you at…?", "I can see you're still out"). See exporting iPhone messages or exporting Google Messages.
• A screenshot of the list of people who can see your location, with the date, records who had access.
• Don't reset the phone first: Apple notes that a factory restore erases all the information on the device.

iPhone: Safety Check and Find My

• Safety Check is in Settings, Privacy & Security, Safety Check (iOS 16 or later). Emergency Reset stops sharing with all people and apps at once and walks you through your devices and Apple Account password; Manage Sharing & Access lets you review person by person.
• Apple's FAQ lists what it covers, including location shared in Find My, shared Maps arrival times, Shared Photos and Notes, calendars and Check In.
• Every Safety Check screen has a Quick Exit button that closes Settings at once; Apple says changes you already made are saved.
• One person only: in Find My, tap People, pick the person and tap Stop Sharing My Location. Apple's location checklist says the person isn't notified and can't see you in their list; if you share again later, they get a notification.
• Apple also notes that photos and videos you share can carry the location they were taken.

If they may still have your Apple Account password, see an old device with access to your iCloud.

Android: Google Location Sharing

• Open Settings, then Location, Location services, Google Location Sharing. Tap the list of people, find the person and tap Stop. Turning off Use Location Sharing pauses every share instead.
• Google says the people you share with can see your name, profile picture, real-time location and battery status, and may see where you've recently been.
• Two things that don't stop it, according to Google: turning off location permission for Google Maps or Find Hub, and using Incognito mode in Google Maps.

Snapchat: Ghost Mode

Open the Map, tap the gear icon, turn on Ghost Mode and, if a timer is offered, pick Until Turned Off (the others are 3 and 24 hours). Snapchat says your location is still shared with Snap but no one else can see it on the Map, and that Snaps you submit to the Map can still appear there.

The children's phones

A child's location shared with both parents is a parenting question, and your order may cover it. Ask your lawyer before you change it.

When the questions move to texts

Once they can't see you, "Where are you?" and "Send me your location" can arrive by text instead. Verity counts messages like these as monitoring, part of its coercive control pattern (see monitoring texts). It reads your export in your browser, without uploading it, and numbers every message in date order.

Thinking about a protective order? See text evidence for a protective order.

Apple, Google and Snapchat pages cited

Read on November 3, 2026. These settings change; check before you rely on them.

• Safety Check for an iPhone with iOS 16 or later (Apple Personal Safety User Guide)
• Safety Check FAQ (Apple)
• Checklist 2: Manage location information (Apple)
• Manage your Location Sharing settings, Android (Google Account Help)
• How do I turn on Ghost Mode? (Snapchat Support)

This is general information, not legal advice. Verity is not affiliated with Apple, Google or Snap. If you are in danger, call 911; the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.