So you bought a new Apple Watch but it’s not pairing? Or you had your devices synced properly one day ago but suddenly your Apple Watch has decided it will not pair anymore?
These things happen from time to time and it’s honestly not a real problem. These errors can go away with some simple troubleshooting and we’ll now show you some tried and tested methods to fix them.
With our expertise, we’re sure that by the end of this article you’ll stop asking ‘Why is my Apple Watch not pairing?’ and start being thankful that it’s working.
How do I know if my Apple Watch is disconnected?
If you aren’t getting any notifications on your watch about messages, calls, and notifications, there’s a good chance it’s disconnected. To confirm that, see if you have either of the following logos on screen:
Also confirm if your other devices are behaving normally. If they are facing connectivity issues too, you might just have an internet connection issue. When that gets resolved, your devices should connect to each other without you doing anything.
How do I reconnect my Apple Watch to my iPhone?
If your devices had already been paired but are now giving issues, simply try putting them close together.
Also, make sure that none of your devices are in Airplane mode and your iPhone has Bluetooth and WI-FI enabled. The Apple Watch smartly uses Bluetooth to connect when in close proximity to an iPhone and switches to WI-FI when more range is needed. This is why it’s recommended to use both connections for the full experience.
To check your connections on the iPhone, open the Control Center and make sure Bluetooth is enabled, you’re fully connected to a WI-FI network, and Airplane mode is disabled.
On your Watch, do the same. Open the Control Center and see if Airplane mode is activated. Check what else you can do in the Apple Watch Control Center.
To successfully pair your devices again, this needs to be followed.
If you’ve done all that but still see Your Apple Watch couldn’t pair with your iPhone, try restarting both your devices.
If your pairing is still failing, unpair and try pairing them again. Read the next section to see how to do that.
How to unpair Apple Watch and iPhone?
You need to do that from your phone and watch for maximum chances of working.
On your iPhone:
- Open the Apple Watch app
- Tap the My Watch tab
- Your watch should appear at the top of the screen, press it.
- Press the ‘i’ icon that appears next to the watch.
- Press Unpair Apple Watch and tap again to confirm.
On your Watch:
- Go to Settings
- Press Reset
- Tap Erase All Content And Settings
You’ve now successfully made both your devices forget about each other. To pair them again, go through the instructions in the next section.
How to pair Apple Watch and iPhone
This process is fairly simple. After performing a series of steps, your watch and phone will be connected like normal.
Firstly, turn on your Apple Watch by pressing and holding the side button.
If not automatically prompted, go to your Apple Watch app in the iPhone and press Start Pairing. Make sure to keep your devices very close to each other so the process completes without a hitch.
The next step will be to use your phone’s camera to view the pattern on the watch. You should now get a message saying that your devices have been successfully paired.
From there, you can either restore your settings or start fresh.
We hope that your Apple Watch and iPhone and are now synced in harmony. To make the best use of your Apple Watch, read our 6 Apple Watch tips for every user.
Bonus questions
We figured you might be interested in some other important questions so here they are.
Where is the ‘i’ icon on the Apple Watch for pairing?
It appears on the lower-right side of the watch during the pairing process.
If you’re trying to initiate the pairing process but nothing appears there, your watch is probably paired to another iPhone.
While one iPhone can be paired with more than one watch at the same time, one watch can only be paired with one iPhone. To connect it with a different iPhone, you will have to unpair it.
To unpair an Apple Watch. simply go through the steps outlined above.
How to pair Apple Watch with new iPhone?
If you got a new iPhone and want to use it with your watch, keep reading.
All you have to do is back up your currently paired iPhone data with iCloud Backup. The steps to do that are explained in great detail here.
When you begin to setup your new iPhone, you will be asked to restore your backups from iCloud. Agree to that.
Later during the setup, agree to use the Apple Watch with your new phone.
If for some reason you wish to not back up your previous phone’s data, simply follow the instructions from How To Pair section.
How to pair more than one Apple Watch?
While this feature may not be used by many, it’s still possible.
The process is the same as before: bring the watch close to the phone and complete the instructions. After successfully pairing your new watch, you can see it in the My Watch app.
How do I manually pair?
While scanning the image on the Watch’s face is normally the way to go, there is still an option to manually pair it.
To use this method, simply click on the ‘Pair Apple Watch Manually’ button on the lower end of the iPhone screen when it asks you to record the Watch’s face.
Then, tap the ‘i’ icon on the lower-right corner of the watch. You will then see the name of your Apple Watch.
On the iPhone, tap the name of the Watch you want to pair with by matching the name displayed on the Watch itself.
Then, enter the 6-digit code on your iPhone that is displayed on the Watch’s face.
Congratulations. You have now successfully paired your watch with your phone.
Why won’t the 6-digit code appear on my Apple Watch?
While the issue is uncommon, it can still happen.
The first thing to confirm is whether both your devices have an active connection during the pairing process. It might be that there was a drop in connection and this can lead to the bug occuring.
After that, give your Apple Watch a restart and try again.
If that doesn’t help, do the following:
- Go to Settings on your iPhone
- Tap your profile name on the top
- Go to Password & Security
- Press Get Verification Code
- Use the 6-digit code from the above step to make the pairing happen
Did this resolve your issue? Let us know in the comments.
I love understanding how different technologies work and explaining them to people. From tech guides to opinions, everything is interesting to me. Other than that, I enjoy writing about various science-related topics and conversing with people.