With the Apple Watch’s seamless features, it’s hard to imagine that it could ever run into problems. But that’s the reality of any consumer electronics device, and your Apple Watch also has its share of common problems. Don’t worry, though. You can resolve some of these issues by restarting your Apple Watch.
Rebooting usually involves holding down the side button, tapping the power icon in the upper right corner, and sliding the power off handle to the right. You can also access this power off option from Settings. Just go to General and select Stop. Once the Apple Watch is turned off, you can turn it on after a few seconds by long-pressing the side button.
But what if your Apple Watch is frozen and you can’t touch the screen or use your favorite Apple Watch features? Maybe an app is malfunctioning, there’s a minor software bug due to a recent update, or the watch’s battery is extremely low. In this case, an alternative solution is to force restart. This doesn’t require a working screen and it’s quite quick and easy to do. To force restart the device, simply press and hold the digital crown and the button below it. Continue until you see the Apple logo, which should take about 10 seconds. The Apple Watch should then start and operate normally.
If that doesn’t work, you have several other options
If your Apple Watch keeps freezing or stuck on the Apple logo, there are two other fixes you can try. First, see if the watch needs a software update. Go to the Watch app on the paired iPhone. Next, go to My Watch and choose General. Check for updates in the Software Update section. The other potential solution is to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone and then re-pair it. This resets your Apple Watch, but you can still restore its data. To unlink, follow these steps:
- In the Watch app on your iPhone, go to All Watches in the upper left corner.
- Find the Apple Watch you need to unpair.
- Tap the information icon to its right.
- Scroll to the bottom of the details page.
- Tap Unpair Apple Watch.
- Tap Unpair (Apple Watch name) to continue.
- Type your Apple account password.
- Tap Ungroup in the upper right corner.
Once the unpairing process is complete, pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone again:
- Back on the Apple Watch app, select Start Pairing.
- Tap Configure for myself.
- Scan Apple Watch with iPhone camera.
- Choose Restore from Backup to revert your watch to its previous state.
Your frozen Apple Watch should return to normal. Otherwise, you may want to have it checked at a service center.
