How to Unlink Your iPhone from a Mac

Tech

There are lots of different ways our iPhones can be linked to our Macs, and whilst this does offer many useful features, it’s totally understandable if you’d like to just unlink the two for good.

So, whether you’re doing so to stop yourself getting constant notifications, or you plan to sell your Mac and don’t want your phone to be visible to the buyer, here are our nine methods for unlinking your iPhone from your Mac.

For any other information, or if you have further questions, please see our FAQ section at the end of this article.

  1. If your iPhone is plugged into your Mac via a USB cable, unplug this.
  2. If the iPhone still appears available and visible in Finder on your Mac, then left-click your iPhone in the Finder sidebar
  3. Next, scroll down to and click on ‘Options’
  4. Under ‘General’, locate the option ‘Show this iPhone when on WiFi’ and untick the box next to it by left-clicking on it

#2 – How to disconnect your Mac from your iPhone’s hotspot

  1. If you wish to stop your Mac using your iPhone as a source of internet without being connected to the WiFi, left-click on your Mac’s WiFi menu
  2. Next, left-click your iPhone’s icon (which the Mac is connected to) and it should disconnect, allowing you to choose a new source of internet on your Mac
  1. On your Mac, open the Apple Menu
  2. Next, locate and select ‘System Preferences’
  3. Next, locate and select ‘Bluetooth’
  4. Click the ‘X’ icon next to your iPhone’s device name in the Bluetooth menu
  5. On the pop-up, select ‘Remove’
    1. Note: You can also unlink Bluetooth from your iPhone by going to the Bluetooth settings menu and tapping your Mac’s device name, then selecting ‘Forget This Device’
  1. On your iPhone, tap the ‘Settings’ app
  2. Navigate to ‘General’ and then to ‘AirDrop’
  3. Finally, select ‘Receiving Off’ to turn off your iPhone’s AirDrop visibility. This will stop it being detectable by your Mac.
    1. Note: This will also stop it being detectable by other AirDrop devices.
  4. To turn off AirDrop on your Mac, instead of your iPhone, open the Finder app on the Mac
  5. Select ‘AirDrop’ from the sidebar
  6. Change “Allow me to be discovered by” to the option “No-one”
  1. On your Mac, open the Apple menu
  2. Next, navigate to ‘System Preferences’
  3. Select ‘Apple ID’ and then untick all of the apps and features you wish to unlink between your iPhone and Mac (such as Photos, Contacts, Mail, etc.) You can choose as many or as few as you like.
    1. Note: You can also do this from your iPhone by going to Settings > Apple ID > iCloud and toggling the apps and features you wish to unlink from ON to OFF.
  1. On your Mac, open the Apple menu
  2. Next, navigate to ‘System Preferences’
  3. Go to ‘General’ and untick the box next to “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices”
    1. Note: You can also do this from your iPhone by going to Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff > toggle this from ON to OFF

#7 – How to unlink text messages between iPhone and Mac

  1. On your Mac, open the ‘Messages’ app
  2. Next, select ‘Preferences’ and then choose ‘iMessages’
  3. Untick the box(es) next to the phone number of your iPhone
    1. Note: You can also do this from your iPhone by going to Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding > toggle this from ON to OFF
  1. On your Mac, open the ‘FaceTime’ app
  2. Navigate to ‘Preferences’ then ‘Settings’ and finally untick the box next to ‘Calls From iPhone’
    1. Note: You can also do this from your iPhone by going to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices > toggle the button next to your Mac from ON to OFF
  1. On your Mac, open the Apple Menu
  2. Next, navigate to ‘System Preferences’ and then ‘Apple ID’
  3. Select your iPhone from the sidebar and then at the bottom of the iPhone window select ‘Remove from account…’ and follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the unlinking.
    1. Note: You can also do this on your iPhone by going to Settings > [Your Name] > selecting your Mac device, and then tapping ‘Remove from account’

And there you have it! Nine foolproof ways to unlink your iPhone from a Mac so that it is completely unlinked at the end of the process. If you have any other questions, or would like some more info on this subject, why not check out our FAQ section down below!

FAQs

Why is my iPhone linked to my Mac?

Apple products have always touted extremely efficient cross-device capabilities, from AirDrop to sharing settings, messages and more over WiFi. What’s more, Apple users tend to use the same User ID across their various Apple devices. This means that your Mac is registered using the same phone number, email address, and Apple ID as your iPhone.

As such, it’s likely that your iPhone is automatically linked to your Mac by default. What this means is that you may well be seeing any incoming text messages, emails, phone calls, notifications and more popping up not just on your iPhone, but also on your Mac at the same time.

This can be a really useful function: it allows you to respond to text, phone calls and the like whilst working from your Mac, without having to go and fetch your phone and reply to things there. And likewise, it allows you to control certain functions, and access certain documents stored on your Mac, from your smartphone. 

However, not all users like this feature. Many in fact find it frustrating to be constantly bothered by the notifications of their phone when on their Mac. But the means to unlink an iPhone from a Mac aren’t always obvious. That’s why we’re here to help!

There are, as you’ll see above, quite a few different ways you can unlink an iPhone from a Mac. These various options allow you, the user, to be specific about which of the linked features you want to retain, and which you want to turn off. 

However, it’s quite understandable to want just one simple way of unlinking everything on your iPhone from your Mac, all at once. Whilst there may still be one or two ways your iPhone will remain linked to a Mac using this method, we think that what you’re looking for is the “How to unlink ‘Handoff’ between iPhone and Mac” method above. 

Follow our “How to unlink ‘Handoff’ between iPhone and Mac” method above and you will have successfully unlinked your iPhone from your Mac to the fullest degree with just a few taps.

Of course! Simply by following our tutorials above, but instead of toggling the options OFF, toggling them back ON, can you re-link your iPhone to your Mac if and when you change your mind.

Related Posts