The most common reason: your watch is still paired to your old phone
When you set up a new iPhone, your Apple Watch does not automatically switch over. It stays paired to your old phone until you unpair it first. If you try to pair the watch to the new phone while it is still connected to the old one, the pairing will fail or stall partway through. The watch can only be paired to one phone at a time.
This is the reason most people run into trouble. The fix is to unpair the watch from the old phone before attempting to pair it to the new one. If you no longer have access to the old phone, there is a workaround, but unpairing from the old device is always the cleaner path.
Key Takeaways
- Your Apple Watch can only pair to one iPhone at a time, so you must unpair it from your old phone before connecting it to your new one.
- Unpairing erases the watch entirely, so back up your data through the Watch app on your old phone before you start.
- After unpairing, restart both the watch and the new phone, then open the Watch app and tap the plus icon to begin pairing fresh.
- If you do not have your old phone, you can unpair remotely using iCloud, though this takes longer and requires your Apple ID password.
- A failed pairing often means Bluetooth is off, the devices are too far apart, or the watch battery is too low—check these before unpairing.
How to unpair your watch from your old phone
Open the Watch app on your old iPhone. Tap the My Watch tab at the bottom, then tap the watch name at the top. Scroll down and tap Unpair Apple Watch. You will be asked to enter your Apple ID password. After you do, the watch will erase completely and return to its factory state. This takes a few minutes.
If you have a cellular Apple Watch, you will also be asked whether to keep or remove your cellular plan. Choose based on whether you want to keep paying for that service. Once unpairing is complete, the watch will show the Apple logo and a progress bar, then restart on its own.
Back up your data before you unpair if you want to restore your settings, apps, and activity history to the new pairing. The Watch app on your old phone has a backup of everything. Once you unpair, that backup stays in iCloud and will restore automatically when you pair the watch to your new phone.
Pairing the watch to your new phone
Make sure both devices have Bluetooth turned on and are within a few feet of each other. On your new iPhone, open the Watch app and tap the plus icon in the top left corner. Hold your watch close to the iPhone camera so it can scan the watch's setup code. If the camera cannot read the code, you can enter it manually by tapping the question mark and typing the eight-digit code from the watch screen.
Follow the on-screen prompts to sign in with your Apple ID. Choose whether to set up as a new watch or restore from a backup. If you backed up before unpairing, select Restore Backup and choose the most recent one. The pairing process takes several minutes. Keep the devices close and do not put them to sleep until it finishes.
Once pairing is complete, the watch will read your apps and sync your settings. This can take 10 to 30 minutes depending on how many apps you have and your internet speed. Your activity history and health data will appear once the sync is done.
If you do not have access to your old phone
You can unpair your watch remotely using iCloud. Go to iCloud.com on any computer or browser, sign in with your Apple ID, and click Find My. Select Devices, then choose your Apple Watch from the list. Click Erase This Device. The watch will unpair and erase, though this can take up to 24 hours to complete.
After the remote erase finishes, you can pair the watch to your new phone using the steps above. This method works, but it is slower than unpairing in person. If your watch is offline or out of battery, the erase may not go through until the watch comes back online.
Quick checks before you unpair
Before you go through the unpairing process, rule out simpler problems. Make sure Bluetooth is on in your new phone's settings. Swipe down from the top right corner (or up from the bottom on older iPhones) and tap the Bluetooth icon to turn it on if it is off. Check that your watch battery is above 50 percent—a low battery can prevent pairing from starting.
Move the watch and phone closer together. Pairing works best within a few feet. If you are in a crowded place with many Bluetooth devices, move to a quieter area. Restart both devices: hold the side button on the watch until the power-off slider appears, swipe to power off, then hold the side button again to turn it back on. On your iPhone, hold the side button and volume button together until the power-off slider appears, then swipe to power off and turn it back on.
Try pairing again after both devices have restarted. If it still does not work, then proceed with unpairing from your old phone or using iCloud.
What to do if pairing stalls or fails partway through
If the pairing process starts but gets stuck on a screen, force-quit the Watch app on your iPhone. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or down from the top right on newer iPhones) to open the app switcher, find the Watch app, and swipe up on it to close it. Open the Watch app again and start pairing from the beginning.
If the watch shows an error message like "Unable to Pair" or "Connection Lost," this usually means the devices lost Bluetooth contact. Make sure they are close together and try again. If the error persists after three attempts, unpair the watch from your old phone (or use iCloud if you do not have it) and start fresh. A clean unpair and re-pair resolves most stuck pairing attempts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose my activity data and workouts when I unpair?
No. Your activity history is stored in iCloud and synced to your Apple ID. When you pair the watch to your new phone and sign in with the same Apple ID, your activity data returns automatically. You do not need to do anything special to preserve it.
Can I pair my watch to two phones at the same time?
No. An Apple Watch pairs to only one iPhone at a time. If you try to pair it to a second phone while it is still paired to the first, the pairing will fail. You must unpair it from the first phone before pairing to the second.
How long does unpairing take?
Unpairing from your old phone takes about five minutes. If you use iCloud to unpair remotely, it can take up to 24 hours, though it usually completes within a few hours. Pairing to your new phone takes another 5 to 10 minutes, plus 10 to 30 minutes for apps and settings to sync.
What if my old phone is broken or lost?
Use iCloud to unpair remotely. Go to iCloud.com, sign in with your Apple ID, open Find My, select your watch, and click Erase This Device. Once the erase completes, you can pair the watch to your new phone normally.
Do I need to unpair if I am upgrading to a different brand of phone?
Yes. Apple Watch only works with iPhone. If you are switching to Android, you cannot pair the watch to your new phone at all. You would need to switch to an Android smartwatch instead. Unpair the Apple Watch from your old iPhone before you sell or recycle it.