If you’re lucky enough to be unboxing a new Apple Watch this week, you might be wondering how to disconnect your old one from your iPhone. Unless you plan on using two watches — it’s a thing — you’ll want to unpair it so you can hand it down to a friend or family member or sell it. Show
It’s important to unpair your watch and not just erase it because if you don’t go through the unpair process, Apple’s Activation Lock will kick in. This is a good thing if you’ve actually lost your watch but a bad thing if you are looking to sell or pass on your watch or use it with a new iPhone. Another thing: if you’re unlucky enough to have lost your iPhone, you will still need to unpair your watch in order to pair it with your new phone. Here, we’ll go through the steps for unpairing your Apple Watch, either with or without your iPhone. How to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhoneOpen the Watch app on your iPhone to begin the process of unpairing your Apple Watch.
How to unpair your Apple Watch without your iPhoneIf you don’t have your iPhone you can unpair an Apple Watch through your iCloud account.If you no longer have the iPhone your watch is paired to, you will need to remove Activation Lock using your iCloud account in order to pair it to a new phone.
How to erase your Apple Watch without your iPhoneIf you don’t have your iPhone, you can erase your watch’s content and restore it to factory settings via iCloud by following the steps above but selecting Erase Apple Watch instead of Remove Apple Watch. Or you can do it directly on the watch by following the steps below. Neither of these methods will remove the Activation Lock, and you can re-pair it with your iPhone at any time.
If you’re having issues, selling, or upgrading your wearable, you’ll want to unpair Apple Watch from your iPhone and probably back it up. Below we’ll look at how to unpair Apple Watch if you have your iPhone nearby and also a couple of options if you just have your watch. When you unpair Apple Watch from iPhone, the wearable is returned to factory settings. Since the watch is erased in the process, your iPhone automatically makes a backup of it. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to keep your Apple Watch close to your iPhone during the steps below. How to unpair Apple Watch from iPhone
Here’s how to unpair Apple Watch in screenshots: How to unpair Apple Watch/erase without iPhoneIf you need to factory reset Apple Watch and you don’t have your iPhone on hand, you can do it from the wearable (but remember it won’t be able to do a fresh backup). Also, you’ll want to head to the Watch app on your iPhone and remove it when you can.
How to unpair Apple Watch/erase without your passcodeYou can also reset your Apple Watch if you can’t remember your passcode (but again, it won’t be able to create a fresh backup). Like above, don’t forget to remove it from the Watch app on your iPhone at some point.
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Michael Potuck@michaelpotuck Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials. Michael Potuck's favorite gearHow do I manually unpair my Apple Watch?Open the Settings app on your watch, then tap General > Reset. Tap Erase All Content and Settings, then tap again to confirm. Wait for the watch to unpair. After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again.
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