To see which apps can use your Mac's location, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services, and turn off any app that doesn't need it. Your Mac works out its location from nearby Wi-Fi networks, and an arrow next to Control Center shows when an app is using it.
Last reviewed · 2 sources
Where to find it
System Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services
Location Services lets apps, system services and websites use your Mac's current location, which the Mac works out from nearby Wi-Fi networks. You choose apps one by one, and Details at the bottom of the list covers system services such as Suggestions & Search and Significant Locations. Apple notes that turning it off doesn't stop third-party apps and websites finding your location other ways.
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
There's a main switch at the top and a switch for each app below it.
At the bottom of the list, Details shows which macOS services use your location, such as Suggestions & Search and Significant Locations.
The app asks again the next time it needs your location.
The main switch stops every app and service. Apple notes that your location may still be used for emergency calls.
CoreLock's free Privacy report covers Screen Recording, Accessibility, Full Disk Access, Input Monitoring, camera and microphone. For Location Services, the list in System Settings is the place to look, and the arrow next to Control Center shows when an app is using your location.
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An arrow next to the Control Center icon in the menu bar means your Mac's location is being used. Open Control Center to see which app.
Apple says your Mac determines its location from information about nearby Wi-Fi networks, collected in a way that doesn't personally identify you.
That's a fair privacy choice, but Maps, Weather, Find My and anything else that relies on location stops working. Most people leave it on and turn off the apps that don't need it.
The Privacy report and the scan are free, with no account, on macOS 13 or later.
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