How to Find the Location of an InReach Device

One of the cool features of a Garmin InReach is the ability for friends and family (or strangers if you want) to locate you in the field without much effort. It's a great way for those concerned about you to easily see where you are or even send you a message. In this guide, I'll show you how to locate InReach device and how to set it all up. The good news is that it's all pretty easy.

In this Guide:

Setting Up the InReach To Find Location
Finding the Location of an InReach Device
Sending a Message to an InReach Device

There are only a few simple steps that you need to do to setup location pings for an InReach device. And just a note, that this only works if the InReach device has an active subscription.

First off, the InReach owner will need to update some settings in the online control panel for the InReach, which is Garmin Explore. Once in Garmin Explore, click on the "Social" tab in the main navigation and find the "MapShare" section.

Find Inreach Mapshare Settings — Once in the MapShare section, turn it "MapShare: On" and then go to "MapShare Settings."

Take note of the URL for your MapShare page. This is the URL that you will need to share with those who want to find your location. In the image above, it's "share.garmin.com/HikingGuy" - you can also create a custom URL that's easy to remember.

Find Inreach Message Settings — Once in message settings, click on "Allow map viewers to locate you." You can also allow them to send you messages. I'd recommend creating a simple password for the page too so that your privacy is protected and Russian bots don't blow up your InReach with spam.

And that's it from the InReach settings side. You can now send a location ping (and maybe receive messages) if your InReach is powered on. This is important. Requesting the location or sending a message won't wake up an InReach if it's powered off.

A location ping or message may incur a charge (for the InReach account holder) depending on their subscription level.

Find the Location of an InReach Device

Locating An Inreach Device — Locating an InReach device is as easy as hitting this magic button.

Goto the MapShare webpage for the InReach user (the URL from the last section).
Hit the "Locate" button. You'll get a confirmation box.
Wait about 5-20 minutes.
Refresh/reload the web page until the position on the map is updated.
You can click on the position icon for details.

Inreach Request Confirmation — The location request feature will try for 5 days, so even if the user has their InReach powered off (say for an overnight stay), as soon as they turn it on, the location will update on MapShare for you.

Send Mesage To Inreach From Mapshare — You can also send a message to the user if they have that option enabled.

Inreach Gets Message From Mapshare — The InReach device receives your message just like they would any other one. They can also reply to your message.

Not sure if InReach is up? You can check the status of the InReach system here.

Need More Info?

Have a question about the guide or want to see what other people are saying/asking? View the Youtube comments for this video. Leave a comment and I will do my best to respond.

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This Guide Was Written by Cris Hazzard

Cris Hazzard 4 Mile Trail Yosemite
Hi, I'm Cris Hazzard, aka Hiking Guy, a professional outdoors guide, hiking expert, and author based in Southern California. I created this website to share all the great hikes I do with everyone else out there. This site is different because it gives detailed directions that even the beginning hiker can follow. I also share what hiking gear works and doesn't so you don't waste money. I don't do sponsored or promoted content; I share only the gear recommendations, hikes, and tips that I would with my family and friends. If you like the website and YouTube channel, please support these free guides (I couldn't do it without folks like you!). You can stay up to date with my new guides by following me on YouTube, Instagram, or by subscribing to my monthly newsletter.