How to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone

If you’re moving to a new Apple Watch, selling your current watch, or fixing some software glitch, you’ll likely need to disconnect it from your iPhone. Apple calls this unpairing. It’s the step that wipes your watch, disconnects your phone, and removes the activation lock so the next person can use it. The good news is that unpairing is easy whether your iPhone is nearby or not. Here’s how it works, plus why you might want to disconnect your watch in the first place.

How to disconnect Apple Watch using your iPhone

The simplest way to unpair your Apple Watch is through your iPhone.

1. Keep your iPhone and Apple Watch close together.

2. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

3. Go to My watch tab, then All watches At the top.

4. Tap the info button next to the watch you want to disconnect.

5. He chooses Unpair your Apple Watchthen select Unpair [your Apple Watch name].

6. If you have a cellular model, choose whether you want to keep or remove your cellular plan. Remove them if you are selling or giving away the watch. Keep it if you plan to pair it again later

7. Enter your Apple Account password when asked to turn off Activation Lock, then select Unpair.

Your iPhone will create a backup before erasing the watch. When you set up a new Apple Watch, you can choose to restore from that backup and still keep your data and settings intact.

How to disconnect Apple Watch without your iPhone

If you don’t have your paired iPhone with you, you can still reset your Apple Watch directly. This will erase your data, but it won’t create a backup and the Activation Lock will remain, so keep that in mind if you want to save your information.

• On your Apple Watch, open Settings.

• Select General, then scroll down and select Reset.

• He chooses Erase all content and settings.

• Enter your passcode if prompted.

• For cellular models, choose whether you want to keep or remove your plan.

Your watch will clear itself and restart as if it were brand new.

Why you should disconnect your Apple Watch

There are a few reasons why you might want to unpair your Apple Watch. Maybe you’re upgrading to a new model and need to start over. You may trade it, sell it, or hand it over to someone else. You may also need to unplug your watch if you are troubleshooting. Sometimes a clean reset is the easiest way to fix sync issues, missed notifications, or fitness data that isn’t updating.

Whatever the reason, unpairing keeps your data safe, makes sure a backup is stored and disables Activation Lock. This last step is important because if you skip it, the next owner will not be able to use the watch.

What happens to your data when you disconnect your Apple Watch?

When you unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone, the watch creates a backup that includes app data, settings, and most health and fitness information. This backup is stored on your iPhone and will be transferred to iCloud if you turn on backups. This makes it easy to restore everything in a new watch.

If you reset from the watch without your iPhone, a backup will not be created. Your data will be erased and the watch will be wiped clean, but Activation Lock will remain.

Activation Lock is linked to your Apple account and helps keep your watch safe if it’s lost or stolen. It turns on automatically when you pair your watch with your iPhone. That’s why unpairing is not the same as a soft reset. You need the Apple Account and password associated with your watch to turn off Activation Lock.