Why won’t my Apple Watch connect to my phone?
A red iPhone icon, a red cross or the word Disconnected in Control Centre means your watch has lost sight of your iPhone, and it is nearly always distance, Airplane Mode or Bluetooth. Bring the two together, turn Airplane Mode off, put Bluetooth and Wi-Fi back on and restart both, and the icon goes green again.
How do I tell if my Apple Watch is connected to my iPhone?
Swipe up from the bottom of the watch face to open Control Centre. The icon at the top tells you where you stand:
- Green phone: the watch and your iPhone are connected.
- Red phone with a line through it, or Disconnected: the watch cannot see your iPhone.
- Red cross: no connection at all, so no calls, texts or notifications.
- Orange aeroplane: Airplane Mode is on. Tap it to turn it off.
How do I reconnect a watch that is already paired?
You do not need to set the watch up again. Work down this list and stop when the icon turns green:
- Put the watch and the iPhone next to each other, so they are well inside range.
- Turn Airplane Mode off on both.
- Turn Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on, on both.
- Restart the watch: hold the side button, drag Power Off across, then hold the side button again.
- Restart the iPhone, and give them a minute to find each other.
Tip: Still nothing? Make sure your iPhone is not connected to a second watch, and that both are on the latest software.
What if it still says iPhone not connected?
Unpair and pair again. Done from the Watch app this backs the watch up first, so your data comes back with it:
- On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, tap My Watch, then All Watches at the top.
- Tap the info (ⓘ) next to your watch, tap Unpair Apple Watch, then confirm.
- If the watch will not unpair from the app, do it on the watch: Settings → General → Reset → Erase All Content and Settings.
- Pair again by holding the watch up to your iPhone camera when the Watch app asks.
Unpairing also signs the watch out, which matters if you are sending it back: see how to sign out of an Apple Watch.
What if none of that works?
A watch that will not connect after a pair and re-pair may have a hardware fault, and yours comes with a 12-month warranty. There is more on the Apple Watch troubleshooting page, and Apple’s own guide is at support.apple.com.
Still need a hand? Contact our support team.
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