1. Stay safe first
Don't confront anyone. If you feel you are in danger, go to a busy public place and call your local emergency number. If you think someone might know where you live, don't go home first. Go to a police station or a friend's house.
2. Find it
An AirTag is a small white-and-silver disc about the size of a large coin. Check bags, coat and jacket pockets, shoes, the lining of luggage and anything you were recently given. In a car, check under seats, in door and seat pockets, the glove box, the boot, wheel arches and bumpers (see how to check your car). Your phone's alert usually has a Play sound button to help you locate it.
3. Identify it
Hold the top of an NFC-enabled phone against the white side of an AirTag. A web page opens with its serial number and a partly hidden phone number of the owner. This confirms what it is. Take a screenshot.
4. Keep evidence before you disable it
Photograph where you found it and take a screenshot of the alert. Note the time and place. Police can ask Apple for registration details through the proper legal process, so don't throw it away.
5. Disable it
Press down on the back cover and turn it anticlockwise, then take out the battery. This stops it sharing its location. Do this after you have your photos.
6. Report it
If you believe you were deliberately tracked, report it to the police and take the tracker, photos and screenshots with you. Support organisations for stalking and domestic abuse can also help with safety planning.
Innocent explanations
Many alerts come from a friend's keys in your bag, a second-hand item, a shared car, or a lost AirTag in someone else's pocket on a bus or train. Where it was found, how long it stayed with you, and whether it keeps returning all help you judge. TrackerGuard shows exactly that: how long and how many places.
In testing. TrackerGuard can miss trackers. Turn on your phone's own tracker alerts too. This page is general guidance, not legal or emergency advice.