Share an AirTag on iPhone Before Lending the Keys or Bag
Share an AirTag in Find My before lending someone the keys or bag attached to it. Handing over the object alone does not give the borrower access to its location. It can also leave them receiving unknown-item tracking notifications. Apple’s sharing feature connects the loan to the borrower’s own Apple Account.
Check both accounts first
Apple’s current AirTag sharing instructions allow an owner to add up to five borrowers, making six users in total for one item. The borrower needs an Apple Account, must be signed in and must use iCloud. You cannot share with a child account.
The owner’s account must have two-factor authentication enabled. Both owner and borrower need iCloud Keychain turned on and iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14 or later. Check these prerequisites before treating a missing invitation as an AirTag fault.
This procedure concerns an item in Find My. Our Find My iPhone setup guide covers the separate controls for finding the phone itself. Enabling those phone controls does not invite someone to share an AirTag.
Send the invitation and check its status
- Open Find My on the owner’s iPhone.
- Tap Items, select the AirTag or supported item, then tap the More button.
- Under Share AirTag, tap Add Person. For another supported item, the heading is Share This Item.
- Enter the borrower’s Apple Account information. Select the person’s name and then their Apple Account. Use the Add button if you want to include additional people.
- When the borrower list is complete, tap Done.
Return to the item’s main screen. It should show the people invited and the status of their invitations. A name on this list is not, by itself, proof that the borrower accepted.
On the borrower’s iPhone, open Find My and tap Items to see the invitation. Tap Add to accept it. The shared AirTag then appears below the owner’s items in the list. Tapping Don’t Add declines the invitation; Apple says that person’s name is then removed from the owner’s list.
If the borrower still gets tracking alerts
Check whether the invitation was accepted rather than merely sent. Apple says borrowers stop receiving tracking notifications while the shared AirTag moves with them. They can see its location on a map and play a sound when nearby; precise finding depends on a supported iPhone.
Family Sharing has a related request route, not automatic acceptance. A person in the same Family Sharing group can tap Ask Owner to Share AirTag in a tracking notification, then Ask Owner. The owner still needs to add them, after which an invitation arrives. Do not assume an unknown-item alert is harmless just because you expected to borrow something.
End access when the loan ends
On the owner’s iPhone, open Find My, tap Items, select the shared item and tap More. Choose the borrower’s name, tap Stop Sharing, then confirm Stop Sharing again.
The former borrower no longer sees the AirTag’s location. If the item still travels with them, tracking notifications may return. Check who physically has the keys or bag before ending the sharing arrangement.