Depending on the product, you can find your serial number:
Check here first
- On the surface of your product.
- In iTunes, if your product syncs with iTunes.
- On a Mac, by choosing About This Mac from the Apple menu.
- On an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, iPod, or Apple Watch, in Settings > General > About.
If you don't have your product or it won't turn on
- If you have your product's original packaging, you can check the barcode to find the serial number.
- If you have an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or iPod, you can get the serial number from the Devices tab in iTunes preferences.
- You can also find your product's serial number on the original product receipt or invoice.
You can also choose a product below for details about finding the serial number:
- With Find My Mac, you can locate and protect your Mac if it's ever lost or stolen. To use Find My Mac, simply turn it on in System Preferences > iCloud. You need to set up Find My Mac before it goes missing. If you believe that your Mac was stolen, contact your local law enforcement.
- Firstly, you can look it up through your software. On your iDevice, click on Settings > General > About to see your device's serial number, IMEI and other information. If the About screen cannot be accessed for any reason, then Apple provides a number of other ways to determine the serial number and IMEI. For instance, it should be printed on the packaging your iPhone or iPad arrived in, or you may find it engraved on the back of the device.
- The only thing having the serial number will help you with is if the laptop gets pawned. Or possibly if it get’s listed on a site like craigslist, and you see the ad you could pretend to be interested in buying, check the serial number and then call the police with the thief’s information.
- Step 1: invent a time machine. Step 2: go back in time before your Mac was stolen. * buy an external hard drive. * get a subscription to Back Blaze. * turn on Time.
Get help
No, it is impossible to tell if a found Macbook Air is lost or stolen via physical examination of the device or its operating system. Computers of the Apple MacBook Air line are not equipped with Kensington security slot which might indicate theft if damaged.
Apple registration numbers and Apple hardware product serial numbers might have the number '0' (zero), but never the letter 'O.' Serial numbers don't have the number '1' (one) or the letter 'i.'
Report a lost or stolen Apple product.
UPDATE: For reasons that have not been publicly explained, Apple has removed the Activation Lock status tool described in this article. There is now no way to check Activation Lock status online. You can still check this status directly on a device, though. To learn how to do that, read What To Do When You Can't Activate a Used iPhone.
![Stolen Stolen](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126614471/107617424.jpg)
No more guessing whether the used iPhone you're buying is stolen — Apple has released a tool that tells you what you need to know before you buy.
Almost since its debut, the iPhone has been an extremely popular target for thieves. After all, a pocket-sized device that millions of people want to spend hundreds of dollars on is a pretty good thing to steal and sell, if you're that kind of person.
Apple attempted to address this issue with the Find My iPhone service in 2010, but that could be defeated by turning the iPhone off or erasing the contents of the phone. Apple made things much harder on thieves when it introduced Activation Lock in iOS 7. This feature made it impossible to activate an iPhone using a new Apple ID without entering the Apple ID and password used to activate the phone originally. Since it's unlikely that a thief would have access to a person's Apple ID and password, this helped cut iPhone theft substantially.
While this feature helped deter some thieves, it didn't help people buying used iPhones. There was no way to check a device's Activation Lock status ahead of time. A thief could sell the stolen iPhone over the Internet and the buyer wouldn't discover that they'd purchased a useless device until they'd already been swindled.
But now Apple has created a tool to check a phone's Activation Lock status to ensure that you're not buying a stolen device and that the phone you're getting can be activated.
Checking Activation Lock Status
In order to check a phone's status, you'll need to have its IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity; basically a unique identifier assigned to every phone) or Serial Number. To get those:
-
Tap the Settings app.
-
Tap General.
-
Tap About.
-
Scroll towards the bottom of the screen and you'll find both numbers.
Mac Serial Number
Once you've got one or both of those numbers:
-
Go to Apple's Activation Lock Status website.
-
Type the IMEI or Serial Number into the box.
-
Enter the CAPTCHA code displayed.
-
Click Continue.
The next screen will tell you whether the iPhone has its Activation Lock feature enabled.
What the Results Mean
Apple Check Serial Number Stolen
If Activation Lock is turned off, you're in the clear. If Activation Lock is on, though, a couple of things may be going on:
- The Phone Is Stolen: An iPhone being sold with Activation Lock still enabled could mean that the device is stolen since a thief probably won't be able to disable Activation Lock. Ask the seller to disable the feature and check again. If they refuse or can't do it, don't buy that phone.
- The Seller Forgot to Turn Off Activation Lock: It's possible that an honest seller has forgotten to turn off Activation Lock. Ask them to disable the feature. If they do, you're OK to buy.
When buying a used iPhone, make sure to ask for the IMEI or Serial Number before you buy and use this tool to check the device's status. It will save you money and frustration.
Limitations of The Tool
Check Mac Serial Number Stolen Car
- This tool isn't connected to any police systems, so it doesn't cross-reference police reports of stolen devices. This checks Activation Lock status only.
- Since Activation Lock was introduced in iOS 7, if the device you're buying is running iOS 6 or lower (unlikely these days, but not impossible) the tool can't help you.
- While pretty unlikely, it's technically possible that a thief could have access to the Apple ID and password associated with the stolen phone they're selling. In that case, the thief can remove Activation Lock and sell a stolen phone without the tool being able to help you.