iPhone (iOS) · Privacy & Security
Quickly review and reset shared access for personal safety
Safety Check lets users see and instantly stop sharing location, passwords, and app access with specific people, useful in situations like leaving a relationship where trust has broken down.
How to open Safety Check
- Open Settings and tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Safety Check.
- Choose Manage Sharing & Access for a guided review, or Emergency Reset for an immediate stop.
- Follow the on-screen steps to confirm each change.
What you should know
- Found in Settings > Privacy & Security > Safety Check.
- Emergency Reset immediately stops all sharing and resets system privacy permissions in one step.
- Manage Sharing & Access provides a guided review of each person and app with access, one at a time.
- Shows shared items including location in Find My, shared albums, and Family Sharing access.
Emergency Reset signs the device out of some accounts and resets sharing broadly; review what will be affected before using it in a non-urgent situation.
Why it matters
Safety Check was built specifically for situations involving personal safety risk, such as domestic abuse, where someone may have been coerced into sharing their location or passwords with another person. Rather than requiring the user to hunt through a dozen separate settings screens under stress, it consolidates every sharing relationship into one guided flow that can be reviewed calmly or reset instantly in an emergency. Its existence reflects a recognition that privacy settings aren't just about advertisers, they can be a matter of physical safety.
Best practices
- Use Manage Sharing & Access for a calm, itemized review rather than Emergency Reset when there's no immediate danger.
- Follow up by changing the Apple ID password and reviewing trusted devices after any reset.
- Revisit Safety Check periodically after any major relationship or living-situation change.
Common problems and fixes
- Unsure what Emergency Reset actually changes.
- Apple provides a full breakdown of affected settings on screen before confirming; read it fully before proceeding.
- A trusted family member lost access unexpectedly.
- Re-share location or albums individually afterward, since Emergency Reset removes all sharing, not selectively.
Tips and tricks
- Review the full list of apps with access, not just people, since some apps request similarly sensitive permissions.
Frequently asked questions
Does Safety Check work if the phone is being monitored remotely?
Apple recommends using a separate, trusted device to research safety planning if remote monitoring by another person is suspected.
Is Safety Check only for domestic situations?
No, it's also useful generally for anyone doing a routine privacy checkup on who has access to what.
Related settings
- Find MyFind My helps you locate a lost or stolen iPhone on a map, remotely play a sound, mark it as lost, or erase it, and it can also share your location with family members or locate AirTags and other Apple accessories.
- Location ServicesLocation Services is the master switch and per-app control center for GPS-based location sharing on iPhone, letting you decide exactly which apps can see your precise or general location, and when.
- Emergency SOSEmergency SOS lets you quickly call for help by pressing the side button rapidly or holding it with a volume button, automatically alerting emergency services and, if configured, notifying your chosen emergency contacts with your location.
More Privacy & Security guides for iPhone (iOS)
- Privacy & PermissionsThe Privacy & Security hub lets you review and control exactly which apps can access your Camera, Microphone, Location Services, Contacts, Photos, and more.
- Face ID & PasscodeFace ID (or Touch ID) and Passcode settings control how you unlock your iPhone, authorize purchases, and protect sensitive data with biometric or code-based security.
- App Tracking TransparencyApp Tracking Transparency requires apps to ask permission before tracking activity across other companies' apps and websites for advertising or data-sharing purposes.
- Content & Privacy RestrictionsContent & Privacy Restrictions, part of Screen Time, lets a parent or guardian block specific apps, websites, content ratings, and purchase types, and lock down further changes to privacy settings.
- Sensitive Content WarningSensitive Content Warning automatically detects and blurs nudity in photos and videos received in Messages, AirDrop, contact posters, and FaceTime messages before they're shown, on-device and without Apple seeing the content.
- App Privacy ReportApp Privacy Report shows a detailed log of how frequently each app has used permissions like location, camera, and microphone over the past seven days, plus which domains it has contacted.