As careful and diligent as you might be, someday you might find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having your Mac fall into the wrong hands. Of course, it’s best to prepare yourself beforehand for such an event by having a strong admin password.

But once your Mac is gone, you can use Apple’s Find My Mac service to find its location (it’s recommended that if your Mac was stolen, you involve the police rather than try to retrieve the device yourself), lock it or erase all of its contents. Many thieves are quite adept at breaking passwords so erasing your Mac might be the best alternative for many, especially if your Mac contains senstive information. But you need to set it up beforhand! Below we’ll look at how to set up Find My Mac and then how to use it should the unfortunate circumstance arrive.

Quick Guide: To Set Up Find My Mac

1. Select  > System Preferences from the menu.
2. Click the iCloud icon.
3. Click the checkbox next to Find My Mac.
   
4. Click Allow

Quick Guide: Find your Computer using Find My Mac

1. In any Web browser, navigate to the iCloud Web site
2. Log in using your Apple ID.
3. Click the Find My iPhone icon.
   
4. Click the All Devices drop-down list on the top center of your screen and search for the device you want to find. A map will display showing the location of your device.
   
5. Choose Play Sound, Lock or Erase [Device name] from the small box on the upper right corner of your screen.
   

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