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Can’t Change Location Services Setting On iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch

Mitch BartlettAugust 6, 2019 Comments (32)

If the “Location Services” or “Share my Location” settings on your Apple iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch seems grayed out and you cannot make changes to it, you may have accidentally set a restriction on it. Check the settings using these steps.

  1. Open “Settings“.
  2. In iOS12 and higher choose “Screen Time” > “Content Privacy & Restrictions“. In iOS 11 and lower, choose “General” > “Restrictions“.
  3. Tap “Location Services“.
  4. Make sure “Allow Changes“ is checked and “Location Services” is set to “On” (green).
    iOS Location Services Restrictions
  5. Go back out to the “Content & Privacy Restrictions” or “Restrictions” screen.
  6. Tap “Share My Location“.
  7. Ensure that “Allow Changes” is selected here as well.

Once this is set, go back to “Settings” > “Privacy” > “Location Services” setting and you should be able to make changes.

If none of these steps worked, you may want to go through the process of restoring your iOS device.

Categories: iPhone

Author Mitch Bartlett

Through my career that spans over 20 years I have become an expert in Microsoft Systems Administration, Android, and macOS. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful knowledgebase for everyone.

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Comments

  1. CrazyGrandma says:
    May 16, 2023 at 12:22 pm

    OMG thank you! I have been so frustrated trying to find an answer to this for weeks. Was out of the country and couldn’t use any Map applications!
    Hero of the day!

  2. Shelley says:
    November 6, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    I have been searching for days using different key words and no luck. The other sites were not helping me figure out why the location services would not switch to on. It was just greyed out. Finally i came across this site and was successfully able to turn on my location services…under screen time!
    Thank you thank you!!

  3. Claudia says:
    October 16, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    Thank you so much!

  4. Cristina Boatwright says:
    August 4, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    It did not help cause I got the iPhone 6s.Is there another way to do it for the iPhone 6s

  5. Okoye says:
    July 3, 2022 at 9:46 pm

    Awesome. Just awesome. I needed this to connect my HomePod. And it’s helping. Thanks

  6. Rick Henrichs says:
    September 28, 2021 at 9:17 am

    Perfect! Thank you!

  7. Adeem Shafiq says:
    September 9, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    Thank you for this solution my location problem is solved now thanks may god bless u

  8. Wanda says:
    July 8, 2021 at 10:03 am

    Thanks! It fixed the problem better than what Apple suggested!

  9. Mark says:
    May 16, 2021 at 7:36 am

    Excellent.
    Solved problem in minutes.

  10. K says:
    February 23, 2021 at 6:58 pm

    It has helped in Direct me to something but not what I was looking for. After couple steps I got stuck with having to give a password. I know I didn’t do this to my phone so how am I supposed to get the password?

  11. Gustav says:
    February 17, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    THANKS a lot! Spend hours on not making it work.

  12. Mike says:
    November 6, 2020 at 8:37 am

    For some reason my location services is locked? It needs a passcode in order for me to get into it.

  13. Twishi says:
    September 21, 2020 at 1:51 pm

    Thanku so much for helping me… i was so worried and you just solved it in seconds. Thanku

  14. Amir Yaqoob says:
    August 9, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    Thanks, i spent almost 1 hour to know what I have done. Finally I got from this link to enable.

  15. Tania says:
    May 27, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    Hello, im trying to turn on my location services and when i tap on content and privacy restrictions, the next page opens and if i want to tap on any of the content and privacy restrictions list a password is requested and i forgot the password. Plz can you help me solve this problem. Thank you.

  16. Joan says:
    May 9, 2020 at 8:46 am

    Thanks…..was able to turn location services off again.

  17. Asim says:
    April 24, 2020 at 7:11 am

    Solved and thanks

  18. Kathy McSwane says:
    February 7, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    Will restoring my iPhone erase info / contacts?

  19. Mary says:
    December 28, 2019 at 1:36 pm

    I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out myself. This took care of it! THANK YOU!

  20. Jason says:
    November 27, 2019 at 8:23 pm

    I’ve been struggling for days with the problem of my phone not knowing where I was. This fixed it! Thank you!

  21. Clint says:
    October 23, 2019 at 11:06 pm

    Under Active Control, 5 of my devices are listed but 3 of iOS based devices are disabled. I mean I can’t toggle it.
    It says “Use a location enabled Google app on the iOS device to change the setting” for all 3 iOS based devices.
    I changed all the things about google location setting.

  22. Kay says:
    October 20, 2019 at 2:25 am

    Very helpful

  23. Sarah says:
    September 27, 2019 at 4:42 pm

    This helped me fix my mother-in-law’s phone, thank you so much!

  24. Pauli Murphy says:
    September 23, 2019 at 7:06 am

    HUGELY Helpful, Thank you very much indeed !

  25. Marissa Branson says:
    July 25, 2019 at 1:33 pm

    Thank you! This problem has been plaguing me for a while!

  26. Bill says:
    July 21, 2019 at 12:01 pm

    Perfect advice worked great thanks

  27. Tristan says:
    June 30, 2019 at 12:12 am

    Thx u were so helpful

  28. Susan faircloth says:
    June 7, 2019 at 11:21 am

    I have IOS 12 and do not have
    “Screen Time” or “Content Privacy and Restrictions.”
    listed as an option. What are my other options?

  29. Trudie says:
    June 2, 2019 at 10:51 pm

    I am trying to fix this on my sons 6s. This did not help me because for some reason I do not have an option for “Screen Time” or “Content Privacy and Restrictions.” Is there another way to solve this problem?

  30. Robin says:
    May 23, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    Thank you! This worked just as described. Very helpful :)

  31. Ted says:
    May 20, 2019 at 10:37 am

    Just what I needed, thanks. Apple REALLY wants your location info, don’t they?

  32. Suzanne says:
    April 20, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    This was very helpful. I would never have been able to determine all the “turn on” buttons to activate.

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My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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Last Updated on August 6, 2019 by Mitch Bartlett