Locate, lock, and erase devices with Apple Business Essentials
When an employee’s device is lost or stolen, you can protect the data on it from being accessed, by either locking the device remotely or by erasing the data on it. These features are available only for devices enrolled in device management using Automated Device Enrollment or Device Enrollment.
There are two ways you can remotely lock an Apple device in Apple Business Essentials: Managed Lost Mode (for iPhone and iPad), and Remote Lock (for Mac).
Also, when a device is in Managed Lost Mode, Apple Business Essentials can use Lost Mode View Location to view the device’s location (even if location services are off).
Turn on Managed Lost Mode on an iPhone or iPad
Apple Business Essentials can remotely place a supervised iPhone or iPad in Lost Mode (called Managed Lost Mode). When Apple Business Essentials remotely turns on Managed Lost Mode, the device is locked and a message can be displayed with a phone number and other information on the Lock Screen. Managed Lost Mode doesn’t require Find My to be turned on.
If Apple Business Essentials turns off Managed Lost Mode remotely, the device is unlocked.
Note: For Managed Lost Mode commands to be received, the device must be able to connect to the internet. If the device is unable to connect to the internet, either over a cellular network or Wi-Fi, the commands won’t be received but will continue an attempt to send until the device has a connection.
In Apple Business Essentials, sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator.
Select Devices
in the sidebar, search for the device you’d like to put into Managed Lost Mode in the Search field, then select the device from the list. See How to search.After you’ve searched for the device, select it from the list, then select Lost Mode
.Enter the following:
A phone number to call if the device is found
A message on the Lock Screen
Optionally, an unlock message for the user after the device is unlocked
After the device is in Managed Lost Mode, you can select Play Sound to play a sound on the device or View Location to view its last known location.
Turn off Managed Lost Mode on an iPhone or iPad
In Apple Business Essentials, sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator.
Select Devices
in the sidebar, search for a device in the Search field, then select the device from the list. See How to search.After you’ve searched for the device, select it from the list.
Select Turn Off to turn off Managed Lost Mode.
Lock a Mac
You can remotely lock any supervised Mac behind a six-digit PIN (personal identification number) code. After the command has been sent to the Mac and the computer restarts, it displays a Lock Screen and a place to input the six-digit PIN code. The user can’t restart into macOS until the PIN has been entered and validated by the Mac. For the lock command to be received, the Mac must be able to connect to the internet. If the Mac is unable to connect to the internet, the commands won’t be received but will continue an attempt to send.
In Apple Business Essentials, sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator.
Select Devices
in the sidebar, search for a device in the Search field, then select the device from the list. See How to search.After you’ve searched for the device, select it from the list, then select the Protect button.
Select Lock next to Lock Device, then read the dialog.
If you still want to lock the Mac, select Confirm.
Unlock a Mac
After you’ve recovered your Mac, you can unlock it using the six-digit PIN code shown on the device in Apple Business Essentials.
Note: When a Mac is locked, you can’t send any additional command until the device is unlocked and appears in Apple Business Essentials. There may be a slight delay between when the device is unlocked and when the device appears.
In Apple Business Essentials, sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator.
Select Devices
in the sidebar, search for a device in the Search field, then select the device from the list. See How to search.After you’ve searched for the device, then select it from the list.
A banner appears noting the device is locked. To view the PIN, select the Lost Mode button
.If you still want to lock the Mac, select Confirm.
Enter the PIN code on the Mac to unlock it.
Erase a device
If a supervised device is lost or stolen, you can remotely erase the device. For example, if an employee loses their company-owned iPhone and it has proprietary information on it, you can send a command to erase the device, which removes all data from it. If the device is later found, you can reenroll it again in Apple Business Essentials.
Important: For the Erase Device command to be received, the device must be able to connect to the internet. If the device is unable to connect to the internet, either over a cellular network or Wi-Fi, the command won’t be received but will continue an attempt to send.
In Apple Business Essentials, sign in with a user that has the role of Administrator.
Select Devices
in the sidebar, search for a device in the Search field, then select the device from the list. See How to search.After you’ve searched for the device, select it from the list, then select Erase.
Read the dialog stating that all data will be erased on the device.
If you still want to erase the device, select “I confirm that I want to erase this device,” then select Confirm.