Guides / Help a parent get their phone ready

Help a parent get their phone ready before it's ever lost

Updated 4 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

Short answerSit down together for 20 to 30 minutes, with their phone in their hands. Check Find My, a good passcode, Stolen Device Protection and a SIM PIN. Make sure they know their Apple Account password, add a Recovery Contact, and write down who to call. Ask before each step. It's their phone, and their decision.

This can feel like a lecture. It doesn't have to be, and it's far easier now than on the worst day. It's written for iPhone.

Before you sit down

What to do together

Each item links to the full steps, so this page doesn't repeat them. Do what you have time for. Even two or three help.

  1. Passcode. Our advice is a passcode longer than 4 digits, which is harder to guess, and one they can remember without writing it on the phone. Stolen Device Protection also needs a passcode to be set. If they already worry someone knows it, read If a thief knows your iPhone passcode.
  2. Find My. Apple says that if Find My wasn't turned on before the iPhone was lost, you can't mark it as lost or erase it remotely. See the checklist.
  3. Their Apple Account password. This is the one that gets forgotten, because the phone signs in by itself. Follow how to check it on another device, with them typing it. If it fails, change it now with the phone in hand.
  4. Stolen Device Protection. Apple says it must be turned on before the phone is lost or stolen. Here's what it does and how to turn it on. Explain it simply: "When you're away from familiar places, the phone asks for your face or fingerprint, with no passcode fallback, for things like using saved passwords and cards, and makes some big changes wait an hour."
  5. SIM PIN. It makes the SIM ask for a code before it can be used for calls and mobile data. It's in Settings, then Cellular, then SIM PIN. Find the default PIN from their network first and don't guess, because Apple warns a wrong guess can permanently lock the SIM.
  6. A Recovery Contact. If you're the one they trust, you can be it. The contact needs an Apple device with recent software, and iMessage must be on for both of you. Apple says a Recovery Contact has no access to the account, only the ability to give a code. Say that plainly, and agree you'll only ever give a code directly to them, as Apple advises.

Write things down, the right way

A phone that's lost takes its notes with it. So put the important facts on paper, in a place that isn't the phone: a notebook, an envelope at home, or a card in a wallet.

Sharing their location, only if they agree

Location sharing may help you see where the phone is while it can still report its location. But it also shows where they are, and some people don't want that. Offer it, explain what you'd see, and accept a no. If they say yes, here's how, including how they can stop.

Clear out the pictures that cause trouble

Photos of cards, IDs and codes go wherever the phone goes. Ask whether you can look together. This guide shows how to find them. They choose what to delete, and you shouldn't look at anything else.

Teach one scam

Tell them that Apple says it never asks for your password or verification codes to give support. Treat anyone who asks for them, by call, text or email, as not to be trusted. One to know after a theft is the "your iPhone was found" scam. Agree on a rule: if anything feels strange, ring you first.

How FirstHour helps

Plan B goes through 16 guided tips, starting with the passcode, Find My, the Apple Account password, Stolen Device Protection and a SIM PIN. It also makes a first-hour plan with the banks, e-wallets and hotlines you tick, and you can send it to someone they trust, email it to themselves or print it as a wallet card. Protect points out pictures of cards, IDs and codes on the iPhone. It can miss things, so "nothing found" doesn't mean "safe".

FirstHour can't turn any of these settings on for them, can't lock the iPhone or a bank account, and can't confirm that you received the plan.

Questions

My parent doesn't want to be tracked. What then?

Skip location sharing. Everything else here works without it. A written list and a Recovery Contact do most of the job.

They've forgotten their Apple Account password. What now?

Reset it now, while the phone is in their hand and it's easy. If they can't reset it that way, Apple says account recovery might take several days or longer. The password guide covers it.

Their phone has just been stolen. Is this still the right page?

No. Start with what to do if your iPhone is stolen, and use Find My from your own phone.

Sources

This page summarises our other guides. Apple pages read 4 November 2026:

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