How to Pair an Apple Watch With Your iPhone
By Suraj Giri, reviewed by Suraj Giri on
Published . 4 min read.
Hold your Apple Watch near your iPhone, tap Continue, then center the watch in the iPhone's viewfinder to pair (connect) them. Apple Watch pairs only with an iPhone; it can't pair with an Android phone. Other problems are in Apple Watch fixes; if you own another brand of watch, see what to do when a smartwatch won't connect to your phone.
How to Pair Your Apple Watch With an iPhone
To pair your Apple Watch with an iPhone, keep the two close together and follow these six steps; the pairing itself happens in step 4.
- Put the watch on, then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
- Dismiss your iPhone's Lock Screen and bring the watch near it. Tap Continue when "Use your iPhone to set up this Apple Watch" appears. If it doesn't, open the Apple Watch app and tap All Watches › Add Watch.
- Tap Set Up for Myself.
- When the animation appears on the watch, center the watch face in the iPhone's viewfinder. Wait for the message that your Apple Watch is paired.
- Choose Set Up as New Apple Watch, or restore from a backup if this iPhone has paired this watch or an older one.
- Follow the prompts. The Apple Account, passcode and settings screens that come next are covered in how to set up an Apple Watch.
How to Pair an Apple Watch Manually
Pair manually when you can't use the camera, the animation doesn't appear, or your iPhone can't read it:
- Start with steps 1 to 3 above.
- Tap Pair Apple Watch Manually at the bottom of the iPhone screen.
- Follow the onscreen instructions.
Apple's pages don't list the manual screens one by one, so go by what your iPhone shows.
How to Pair Your Apple Watch Again
To pair your Apple Watch again (to re-pair or relink it), unpair it in the Apple Watch app, pair it as usual, then restore the backup. Apple lists unpairing and pairing again as the last fix for a watch that can't reconnect.
- On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app, go to My Watch › All Watches, tap the info button next to your watch, then tap Unpair Apple Watch and Unpair [your Apple Watch name].
- If the watch has a cellular plan, keep it. Then type your Apple Account password to turn off Activation Lock, and tap Unpair.
- Pair the watch again with the six steps above.
- Choose Restore from Backup and pick the stored backup. Apple backs up the watch to your iPhone before it unpairs.
Selling the watch rather than keeping it changes step 2: remove the cellular plan, and follow how to unpair an Apple Watch before you sell it.
How to Reset Your Apple Watch to Pair It Again
Without the paired iPhone, erase the watch itself: open Settings, tap General › Reset › Erase All Content and Settings, enter your passcode if asked, keep or remove any cellular plan, then tap Erase All. The erase leaves Activation Lock on, so the watch pairs again only after you enter the Apple Account and password used to set it up. Other reset methods are in how to reset an Apple Watch.
Can You Pair an Apple Watch With an Android Phone?
No. Apple Watch pairs only with an iPhone, as our page on Apple Watch and Android compatibility explains: Apple says "To use your Apple Watch, you need to pair it with your iPhone," and its compatibility table lists iPhone models only. Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones can't pair one either, so Android owners need a smartwatch built for Android.
Pairing With a New iPhone
Moving to a new iPhone uses its own steps, because you transfer the watch and its content to the new phone. Follow how to pair an Apple Watch with a new iPhone.
How to Check Your Apple Watch Is Paired
Two checks confirm the watch is paired and connected to your iPhone:
- Control Center: press the side button on the watch. A green iPhone icon means it's connected; a red iPhone icon or red X means it's disconnected.
- Watch face: after pairing, the watch shows its watch face when syncing finishes and it's ready to use.
If Your Apple Watch Won't Pair
Three pairing problems each have their own fix. A watch face or passcode prompt during pairing means the watch is still paired with an iPhone, so unpair or erase it first. For a pairing animation stuck for several minutes, press and hold the Digital Crown in pairing mode and tap Reset. A watch that pairs but drops the connection needs the fixes for an Apple Watch not connecting to iPhone.
Pairing Questions
Two more questions come up in pairing searches: Pixel phones, and what "sync" means.
Can I pair an Apple Watch with a Google Pixel phone?
No. A Google Pixel is an Android phone, so the iPhone-only answer above applies. Google's own Pixel Watch works the other way: its setup page asks for "a compatible Android phone".
Does "syncing" an Apple Watch mean pairing?
In "sync Apple Watch to iPhone" searches, yes: syncing means pairing. Pairing links the two devices; after setup, Apple says to keep them close so they can continue "syncing information in the background." Data that stops syncing is a separate problem, covered in our Apple Watch not syncing guide.
Sources
- Pair and set up Apple Watch with iPhone (Apple Watch User Guide)
- Set up your Apple Watch
- Unpair and erase your Apple Watch
- Restore Apple Watch from a backup (Apple Watch User Guide)
- If you can't pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone
- If your Apple Watch isn't connected or paired with your iPhone
- Apple Watch and iPhone compatibility
- Set up Google Pixel Watch (Google Pixel Watch Help)