Your Apple ID is the personal account you use to sign in to your devices and access Apple services, like the App Store, iCloud, Messages, FaceTime, and Find My. It also includes personal information that you store with Apple and share across devices, like contacts, payment info, photos, device backups, and much more. If someone else has access to your Apple ID, they can view information that is synced across devices, which may include such things as Messages and location. Learn here how to secure your Apple ID on iPad, iPhone, and Mac.
Below are a few important things you can do to secure your AppleID and protect your privacy.
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Secure your Apple ID
Don’t share your Apple ID with anyone, even family members, partners, and close friends. If you share an Apple ID, you’re giving someone else access to all your personal data and your content. If someone else set up your Apple ID and password for you, or has had access to your password, you should change your password.
Use two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. Two-factor authentication is designed to ensure that you’re the only person who can access your account, even if someone else knows your password. With two-factor authentication, you’ll need to provide both your password and a six-digit verification code that automatically appears on your trusted devices when you want to sign in to a new device for the first time.
You must verify at least one trusted phone number—a number where you can receive verification codes by text message or automated phone call—to enroll in two-factor authentication.
Pay attention to notifications about your AppleID. Apple notifies you by email, text, or push notification when changes are made to your account, such as when there is a sign in for the first time on a new device or when your password is changed, so it’s important to keep your contact information up to date.
See Reject unknown sign-in attempts.
If you receive a notification that there was a sign-in attempt or that changes were made to your account that you didn’t authorize, this could mean someone has accessed or is trying to access your account.
Check and update your Apple ID security information
To help ensure that the personal information connected to your Apple ID is yours:
Do one of the following:
On your iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings
> [your name].On your Mac running macOS 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, then click Apple ID.On your Mac running macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, then click Apple ID.In a web browser on your Mac or PC: Go to theApple ID website.
In the Name, Phone Numbers, Email section, update any information that isn’t correct or that you don’t recognize, including your name, and the phone numbers and email addresses where you’re reachable.
Do one of the following:
If you have two-factor authentication turned on, review your trusted devices. If you see devices that you want to remove from your account, follow the directions in the next section to remove them from your account.
If you haven’t yet set up two-factor authentication, see Use two-factor authentication.
> [your name].
> System Settings, then click 
.
Secure your account and remove unknown devices
If there are devices connected to your Apple ID that you don’t recognize or haven’t authorized to use your account, you can secure your account and remove them using the steps below. Removing an unknown device helps ensure that it can no longer display verification codes and that access to iCloud (and other Apple services on the device) is blocked until you sign in again with two-factor authentication.
You may also want to take a screenshot of the devices for documentation before securing your account.
Follow these steps to review your account information and protect your account:
If you want to change your password:
On your iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings
> [your name] > Password & Security > Change Password. Choose a strong password (eight or more characters, including upper and lowercase letters, and at least one number).On your Mac running macOS 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, then click Apple ID > Password & Security > Change Password. Choose a strong password (eight or more characters, including upper and lowercase letters, and at least one number).On your Mac running macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, then click Apple ID > Password & Security > Change Password. Choose a strong password (eight or more characters, including upper and lowercase letters, and at least one number).If you want to remove the devices you don’t want connected to your account, go to Settings > Apple ID. Scroll down to the list of devices, tap the device you want to remove, then tap Remove from Account.
If you want to change the email address associated with your Apple ID for added safety, open Safari
and sign in to theApple ID website(https://appleid.apple.com). Select Account, and under your current Apple ID, select Change Apple ID, then enter the new email address you would like to use.If you want to remove the devices you don’t want connected to your account:
On your iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > [your name], scroll down to the list of devices, tap the device you want to remove, then tap Remove from Account.
On your Mac running macOS 13 or later: Choose Apple menu
> System Settings, click Apple ID, scroll down to the list of devices, click the device you want to remove, then click Remove from Account.On your Mac running macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu
> System Preferences, click Apple ID, scroll down to the list of devices, click the device you want to remove, then click Remove from Account.
and sign in to theSee alsoApple Support article: Change your Apple ID passwordApple Support article: If you forgot your Apple ID passwordApple Support article: If you think your Apple ID has been compromisedAdditional safety resources
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