Are you experiencing difficulties in establishing a connection between your Apple Watch and iPhone? Connecting Apple Watch to your iPhone should be a seamless process, but sometimes technical issues can arise, causing inconvenience. Without a connection, you may not be able to call, text, or listen to music from your watch. We understand how frustrating this can be, but worry not. Here are fixes that are known to work and should help you troubleshoot and resolve Watch and iPhone connection issues.
Table of Contents
1. Check if the Watch Is Disconnected
Before anything else, it is important to check if the watch is not connecting or if the notifications on the watch are not working as these are two different problems. It’s straightforward to check if the watch is disconnected by going to the control center of your Apple Watch.
Just press the side button once; if there is a red crossed iPhone icon at the top of the control center, it means your watch is disconnected.
Pro Tip: If you are new to Apple Watch, here is a handy table on what icons and symbols mean in the Control Center and the status bar on your Apple Watch.
2. Enable Bluetooth on iPhone
Enabling Bluetooth is essential to establish a connection between your watch and iPhone to link them. So make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your iPhone.
To enable Bluetooth on your iPhone, open the Settings and select Bluetooth. Then check if the toggle is enabled for Bluetooth and make sure your Apple Watch is connected. If not, tap on the device named Apple Watch and it will get connected.
3. Disable Airplane Mode on Watch
When Airplane mode is activated on your Apple Watch, it effectively disables all wireless connections that the device supports. This could potentially interfere with the connection between your watch and iPhone.
Press the side button once to open the control center and make sure there is no airplane icon at the top. If there is it means the airplane mode is enabled, swipe up the control center and tap on the airplane mode icon to disable it.
4. Update iOS and watchOS
It’s possible that your watch and iPhone aren’t connecting because of a software glitch. Make sure to update your iPhone and Apple Watch to the latest version. To update, on your watch and iPhone navigate to Settings > General > Software update.
Pro Tip: Do you know that you can put multiple pictures on the clock face of your Apple Watch?
5. Reset Network Settings on iPhone
Resetting network settings can come in handy when you’re trying to connect your Apple Watch to your iPhone. Just remember that once you reset the network settings, you’ll have to set up and input all the details for the networks and devices you rely on again.
1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and select General.
2. Scroll to the bottom, select Transfer or Reset iPhone, and then tap on Reset.
3. After that select Reset Network Settings and enter the passcode of your iPhone.
4. Now tap on Reset Network Settings and it will reset all network settings back to their original factory defaults.
Must Read: It is important to know what happens when you reset your iPhone before you do it. iOS offers different reset options and we discuss all of them.
6. Reset Sync Data on Apple Watch
You’re still having trouble connecting your Apple Watch with your iPhone? Resetting the sync data might work for you. Just keep in mind that this will wipe out all your current sync settings. But don’t worry, your watch will automatically resync with your phone after the reset, and hopefully, this will solve any connection problems you’ve been having.
1. To do this open the Watch app on your iPhone, head to General, scroll down, and select Reset.
2. Now tap on Reset Sync Data and your Apple Watch will resync with your iPhone.
Note: Before re-syncing from your iPhone, resetting sync data will remove all Contacts and Calendar data from your Apple Watch.
7. Restart Apple Watch and iPhone
If the previous methods have not fixed the issue, just like any electronic device, restarting your iPhone and Apple Watch can often help in resolving minor software glitches or issues that may be causing the problem in the connection.
To restart your Apple Watch simply press and hold the side button until you see a Power button at the top right. Then, tap on the Power button and swipe through the Power Off slider. To turn on, just hold on to the side button until the Apple logo appears.
8. Unpair and Pair Apple Watch
Have you tried unpairing and then pairing your Apple Watch again with your iPhone? This might help if it’s still not connecting to the iPhone. To unpair your watch, first open the Watch app on your iPhone. Then tap on All Watches on the top left of the screen and process by tapping on the info icon.
Now, select the last option Unpair Apple Watch, and tap on the confirmation again to unpair it.
You will be asked to enter your Apple ID password, once entered tap on Unpair and your watch will be unpaired from your iPhone. After that, you can pair your watch again with your iPhone.
9. Pair Apple Watch Manually
Even after pairing again, is your watch not connecting to your iPhone? This time try pairing your watch manually. While setting up your Apple Watch instead of scanning and pairing, select Pair Apple Watch Manually and select your Apple Watch from the list of devices.
After that enter the 6-digit code displayed on your Apple Watch and your watch will get paired to your iPhone.
10. Set Up as New Apple Watch
If the previous solutions you have attempted did not resolve the issue; instead of restoring the previous backup, try Set Up as New Apple Watch. A few users have also mentioned that this fix works for them and even Apple Support recommends this. This process involves setting up your Apple Watch from scratch and erasing all existing data and settings on the device.
11. Erase All Content and Settings on Apple Watch
If the Apple Watch is still not connecting to your iPhone you must try erasing your Apple Watch. Other users on online forums have mentioned that this worked for them. This will delete all your watch data. To erase your Apple Watch without an iPhone, go to Settings > General, same as mentioned in previous methods. In General, scroll down and select Reset, and after that tap on Erase All Content and Settings.
Now you’ll be asked to enter the passcode of your watch. Enter the passcode and select Erase All.
Note: After pairing again make sure to select Restore from Backup, else you may lose your Apple Watch data.
12. Disconnect From Previous iPhone
Have you switched to a new iPhone recently? There might be a chance that you may have forgotten to unpair your Apple Watch from your previous iPhone. If you still have that old iPhone, unpair the watch by going through the process mentioned in the previous methods. If not, you have to completely erase your Apple Watch to connect it to your new iPhone.
Watch Out
We hope that we were able to successfully resolve the connectivity issue you were experiencing between your Apple Watch and iPhone. Now that your watch is connected you can try Adding, changing, removing, and rearranging Apple Watch widgets on WatchOS 10.
