What happens if you unpair apple watch

Unpair Apple Watch without iPhone

If you need to unpair your Watch and don’t have access to your iPhone or can’t remember your Apple Watch passcode, follow these steps:

  1. Put your Apple Watch on its charger
  2. Press and hold the side button as if you were going to power it down
  3. Do a firm press on the POWER OFF slider and let go
  4. Tap Erase all content and settings

Here’s what you’ll see as you go through the process this way:

What happens if you unpair apple watch

Remove iCloud Without iPhone

Alternately, you can go to Settings → General → Reset to erase and unpair your Apple Watch if you know your passcode, but the option above is faster.

If you need to erase and unpair your Apple Watch without your iPhone, you can log on to icloud.com and remove your Apple Watch under Settings → My Devices.

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.

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 iPhone

Open the Watch app on your iPhone to begin the process of unpairing your Apple Watch.

  • Make sure your iPhone and Apple Watch have the most recent software updates installed.
  • Put your phone and watch together (you can’t do these steps remotely).
  • Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
  • Tap the My Watch tab and then All Watches at the top.
  • Tap the info button next to the name of the watch that you are unpairing. 
  • Tap Unpair Apple Watch at the bottom of the page.
  • If you have a cellular model, you’ll be prompted to choose to keep or remove your cellular plan. If you are pairing a new watch and aren’t using this one again, remove it; you can add it to your new watch. If you plan to pair this Apple Watch again at some point, then keep the plan.
  • Tap to confirm that you really want to unpair the watch.
  • Enter your Apple ID password to disable Activation Lock. 
  • The phone will create a new backup of your watch before it unpairs. You can use this to set up a new Apple Watch.
  • Once the watch is fully unpaired, you will see the Start Pairing message.

How to unpair your Apple Watch without your iPhone

If 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.

  1. On a computer, go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID and password. 
  2. Select Find iPhone.
  3. Click All Devices and choose your Apple Watch.
  4. Select the info button next to the device.
  5. Select Remove Apple Watch — this will remove the Activation Lock and allow you to pair it to a new phone.

How to erase your Apple Watch without your iPhone

If 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.

  1. On your Apple Watch, tap Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings
  2. Type in your password.
  3. If you have a cellular model, you’ll need to choose to keep or remove your cellular plan (as covered earlier). 
  4. Tap Erase All to reset your watch to factory settings.

What happens if you unpair apple watch

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

  1. Apple says to first remove any Transit cards you have stored with Apple Watch (Watch app on iPhone > Wallet & Apple Pay > Transit Cards)
  2. While keeping your watch and iPhone close, open the Watch app on iPhone
  3. Choose the My Watch tab at the bottom, then tap All Watches in the top left corner
  4. Tap the circled “i” next to the watch you want to unpair
  5. Choose Unpair Apple Watch at the bottom then tap Unpair again
  6. If you have a cellular plan, choose to keep or remove the plan (you’ll still need to call your carrier if you want to actually cancel the plan)
  7. Enter your Apple ID password if asked
  8. When the unpairing is complete you’ll see the “Start Pairing” message

Here’s how to unpair Apple Watch in screenshots:

What happens if you unpair apple watch

How to unpair Apple Watch/erase without iPhone

If 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.

  1. Head to Settings on your Apple Watch
  2. Tap General
  3. Swipe down to the bottom and tap Reset
  4. Tap Erase All Content and Settings
  5. If you’re using a passcode, enter it when prompted
  6. Swipe down and choose Erase All or Erase All & Keep Plan if you have a cellular watch

How to unpair Apple Watch/erase without your passcode

You 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.

  1. Put Apple Watch on its charger
  2. Press and hold the side button as if you were going to power it down
  3. Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see Erase all content and settings
  4. Tap Reset
What happens if you unpair apple watch

Thanks for reading our guide on how to unpair Apple Watch from iPhone!

Read more 9to5Mac tutorials:

  • Here’s how Apple Watch Series 7 compares to the Series 6 and earlier
  • How to see your steps with Apple Watch including distance and trends
  • Apple Watch: How to see your detailed heart rate history
  • Apple Watch: How to see calories burned – active, passive, and total

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What happens if you unpair apple watch


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About the Author

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.

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Does unpairing Apple Watch erase everything?

If you have the iPhone that your Apple Watch is paired with, you should follow the steps to unpair your Apple Watch. This removes Activation Lock from your Apple Watch as well as erasing all its content and settings. If you don't have the paired iPhone, you can erase your Apple Watch, but Activation Lock will remain.

Will I lose my activity if I unpair my watch?

While unpairing your Apple Watch does indeed erase everything on it, a backup of all that data is automatically created when you unpair your Apple Watch using the Watch app on your iPhone. What is this? You can then pair a new Apple Watch or that same Apple Watch again and restore that backup.

Can I unpair my Apple Watch and pair again?

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. You'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

What do I do if I accidentally unpair my Apple Watch?

Answer: A: You'll need to open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, unpair the watch, then pair it again. It will walk you through the set up steps and you can choose to restore it from your most recent backup. Use the directions in this link to unpair your watch.