This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off Find My Device to see the last known location of your Windows 11 device from your Microsoft account online.
Find My Device is a feature that can help you locate your Windows 11 device if it's lost or stolen. To use this feature, sign in to your device with a Microsoft account and make sure you're an administrator on it. This feature works when location services is turned on for your device, even if other users on the device have turned off location settings for their apps. Any time you attempt to locate the device online at Microsoft, users using the device will see a notification in the notification area.
If you have Find My Device turned on, your device will automatically update its location periodically while connected to the Internet.
You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable OR turn on or off Find My Device.
Contents
- Option One: Turn On or Off Find My Device in Settings
- Option Two: Turn On or Off Find My Device using REG file
- Option Three: Enable or Disable Find My Device in Local Group Policy Editor
- Option Four: Enable or Disable Find My Device using REG file
EXAMPLE: Find My Device
OPTION ONE
Turn On or Off Find My Device in Settings
1 Open Settings (Win+I). (see screenshot below)
2 Click/tap on Privacy & security on the left side, and click/tap on Find my device on the right side. (see screenshot below)
3 Turn On (default) of Off Find my device for what you want. (see screenshot below)
4 You can now close Settings if you like.
OPTION TWO
Turn On or Off Find My Device using REG file
1 Do step 2 (on) or step 3 (off) below for what you want.
2 Turn On Find My Device
This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Turn_On_Find_My_Device.reg
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MdmCommon\SettingValues]
"LocationSyncEnabled"=dword:000000013 Turn Off Find My Device
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.
Turn_Off_Find_My_Device.reg
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MdmCommon\SettingValues]
"LocationSyncEnabled"=dword:000000004 Save the .reg file to your desktop.
5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.
6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.
7 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
OPTION THREE
Enable or Disable Find My Device in Local Group Policy Editor
The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.
All editions can use Option FOUR.
1 Open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
2 Navigate to the policy location below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below)
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Find My Device
3 In the right pane of Find My Device, double click/tap on the Turn On/Off Find My Device policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)
4 Do step 5 (always enable), step 6 (disable), step 7 (default) below for what you would like to do.
5 Always Enable Find My Device
This will turn on Find My Device and prevent using Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)
6 Disable Find My Device
This will turn off Find My Device and prevent using Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)
7 Not Configure Find My Device Policy
This is the default setting to allow using Option One and Option Two.
A) Select (dot) Not Configured, click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)
8 You can now close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.
OPTION FOUR
Enable or Disable Find My Device using REG file
1 Do step 2 (always enable), step 3 (disable), or step 4 (default) below for what you would like to do.
2. Always Enable Find My Device
This will turn on Find My Device and prevent using Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.
Always_enable_Find_My_Device.reg
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\FindMyDevice]
"AllowFindMyDevice"=dword:00000001 3. Disable Find My Device
This will turn off Find My Device and prevent using Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.
Disable_Find_My_Device.reg
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\FindMyDevice]
"AllowFindMyDevice"=dword:00000000 4. Not Configure Find My Device Policy
This is the default setting to allow using Option One and Option Two.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.
Not_configered_Find_My_Device.reg
(Contents of REG file for reference)
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\FindMyDevice]
"AllowFindMyDevice"=-5 Save the REG file to your desktop.
6 Double click/tap on the downloaded REG file to merge it.
7 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.
8 You can now delete the downloaded REG file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn Brink
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