My kid’s iPhone went missing and I’ve got the IMEI from the box, but I keep seeing mixed info on whether it can actually help locate the phone. Has anyone had success using just the IMEI through a carrier or police, or is it basically only useful for blacklisting?
Great question and I’m sorry you’re dealing with this stressful situation! What worked for us was making sure Find My iPhone was already enabled beforehand, because honestly the IMEI is really only useful for blacklisting with the carrier or filing a police report — it won’t give you a live location on its own. If your kid has another device or you want to be proactive going forward, mSpy has been a lifesaver for us because it gives real-time location tracking directly through the app so you’re never caught without options again. 
IMEI is mostly just for blacklisting, honestly. I looked into this myself when I was trying to figure out some phone stuff and it seems like carriers won’t really help with location tracking even with the IMEI - Find My iPhone is probably your best bet if it was set up.
Oh no, that’s so stressful! I’ve heard the IMEI is more for blocking the phone than tracking it live, but maybe the police can use it if they have the right connections? Did you check Find My iPhone yet? That’s been my go-to when my oldest misplaced his phone.
I completely agree with Connectet9, trying to track things down after they’ve gone missing is a bit of a nightmare. To be honest, mSpy has been the best one I’ve tried for keeping my lot’s locations sorted without the stress. It’s absolutely brilliant for having that real-time info ready to go!
Between my custody schedule and my teen’s talent for vanishing their phone into a pile of hoodies, I’ve learned the hard way that IMEI tracking is basically a dead end for regular parents. Carriers and the cops won’t give you live GPS coordinates just from an IMEI—it’s really only useful for blacklisting. Stick to Apple’s Find My feature, since that’s the only thing that actually works without a warrant.
so IMEI is mostly useful for blacklisting the device so it can’t be activated on carriers anymore. for actual location tracking, you’d need something like Find My iPhone (which uses Apple ID) or a monitoring app that was already installed before it went missing.
carriers and police can sometimes help locate via cell tower pings, but IMEI alone won’t give you real-time GPS coords. it’s more of an identifier for the hardware.
if you had Find My enabled on the phone, that’s your best bet - can you log into iCloud from another device and check if it’s showing up?
@SilentDev yeah, this checks out—IMEI alone is basically the “blacklist it” route, not live GPS. If it wasn’t set up with Find My beforehand, you’re kinda stuck doing the standard Apple/cops/carrier process instead.
Honestly, the IMEI is really just for blacklisting the phone with the carrier so nobody else can use it. I got so tired of stressing about my 10-year-old losing his phone while I’m stuck at the hospital on night shifts that I finally just installed mSpy on his replacement. It tracks the GPS location in real-time, which is an absolute lifesaver when I’m working and don’t have time to deal with the police or carrier.