How to Reset Apple Watch
Restart, force restart, or erase your Apple Watch, with or without your passcode, and use the iPhone method that backs it up and removes Activation Lock before you sell it.
You will end up with a watch that works again, or one that is wiped and ready for a new owner, using the least drastic reset that fixes your problem.
Whether your watch is stuck on a black screen, an app keeps crashing, or you are getting ready to sell it, "reset" can mean three different things. A soft reset just reboots the watch. A force restart gets you out of a freeze. A factory reset wipes everything and takes the watch back to its out-of-the-box state. The erase methods differ in whether they back the watch up first and whether they remove Activation Lock, so the right one depends on whether you are keeping the watch.
Start at step 1 and stop when your problem is solved. We checked these steps against Apple's support articles and the Apple Watch User Guide for watchOS 27 in September 2026.
An Apple Watch (any model or generation) The paired iPhone for the recommended factory reset method The magnetic charger for resetting without a passcode
Restart your Apple Watch (soft reset)
If your watch is running slowly or an app is acting up, a simple restart is the first thing to try. No data is lost. Press and hold the side button (the oblong button below the Digital Crown) until the power options appear. Tap the power icon in the top right corner, then drag the Power Off slider to the right. Wait for the screen to go completely dark. Then press and hold the side button again until the Apple logo appears. The watch will boot back up with everything intact. If the watch is frozen and you cannot reach the power menu, skip to the next step, which Apple says to use only when a normal restart is not possible.
Good to know: You cannot restart your Apple Watch while it is charging. Take it off the charger first, then press and hold the side button.
Force restart a frozen Apple Watch
When your watch is completely unresponsive and you cannot get to the power menu, a force restart is the fix. This is safe and does not erase any data. Press and hold both the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time. Keep holding both buttons for at least 10 seconds. The screen will go dark first. Keep holding. Release when you see the Apple logo. The watch will reboot normally. If it was frozen on a black screen, this works too. Watch for the logo rather than counting seconds and letting go too early.
Heads up: Do not force restart during a watchOS update. Apple's instruction is to leave the watch on its charger while the update completes and not to restart it, because it restarts on its own once it is done. Apple says an update can take from several minutes to an hour, so a progress wheel that seems stuck is not a reason to force a restart.
Factory reset from Settings on the watch
A factory reset erases everything on the watch and restores it to its original state. Use it when restarting did not fix the problem and you are keeping the watch, which is the case Apple describes it for. Read the warning below before you erase. On your Apple Watch, press the Digital Crown to go to the Home Screen. Open Settings (the gear icon), then tap General. Scroll to the bottom and tap Reset, then tap Erase All Content and Settings. Enter your watch passcode when prompted. If your watch has a cellular plan, choose whether to keep or remove the plan. Tap Erase All to confirm. Wait for the watch to finish erasing. When it does, you will see the initial pairing screen.
Heads up: Apple says your watch backs up to its paired iPhone automatically whenever the two are near each other, so a recent backup already exists. Apple does not document a fresh backup for this method, though, so if you want the very latest data saved, use the iPhone method in step 5 instead. This method also does not remove Activation Lock, which means a new owner will need your Apple Account password to set up the watch.
Factory reset without your passcode
If you forgot your passcode, or the watch is disabled after too many wrong attempts, you can still erase it, but you need the magnetic charger. Neither erase method in this step removes Activation Lock, so if you are giving the watch away, finish with the last paragraph. Place the Apple Watch on its magnetic charger and keep it there for the whole process. Apple's steps are to press and hold the side button until the power button appears in the upper right of the display, then press and hold the Digital Crown until you see "Erase all content and settings". It is a press and hold rather than a tap. Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm. The watch will erase itself and restart to the pairing screen. If you still have the paired iPhone, Apple documents a second route for the same situation. Open the Apple Watch app, tap My Watch, then General, then Reset, and tap Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings, then tap it again at the bottom of the screen to confirm. Apple says you might need to enter your Apple Account password, but you do not need the watch passcode. For the charger method, Apple says a backup of the watch's contents is created on your iPhone before it is erased. To remove Activation Lock afterward, sign in at iCloud.com/find with your Apple Account, click the watch under All Devices, click Erase, and once it is erased, click the Remove button that appears under it. That is the web method in Apple's Activation Lock article.
Factory reset through your iPhone (recommended)
Use this method to factory reset if you still have the paired iPhone. It automatically backs up your watch data, removes Activation Lock, and gives you control over your cellular plan. Keep both devices close together. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap the My Watch tab. Tap All Watches at the top, then tap the info button (i) next to the watch you want to reset. Tap Unpair Apple Watch, then tap Unpair again to confirm. For cellular models, choose whether to keep or remove your plan, and remove it if you are selling or giving the watch away, as Apple advises. Type your Apple Account password to turn off Activation Lock, then tap Unpair. The iPhone backs up the watch, then erases it. Our How to Unpair Apple Watch guide walks through each screen.
Good to know: Always use this method before selling, giving away, or trading in your Apple Watch. It is the only method that automatically removes Activation Lock, which means the new owner can set up the watch without your password.
Restore your Apple Watch from a backup
After a factory reset, the watch shows the pairing screen. Hold it near your iPhone and tap Continue when the pairing prompt appears. Point your iPhone camera at the swirling animation on the watch to pair them. During setup, you will be asked whether to Restore from Backup or Set Up as New Apple Watch. If you used the iPhone unpairing method (step 5) or the charger method (step 4), a backup was created automatically and will appear in the list. Pick the most recent one. Set a new passcode when prompted, then work through the setup screens for Apple Pay, SOS, and notifications. The watch then syncs your data in the background. Apple's backup article lists Apple Pay cards, Bluetooth pairings, and the watch passcode among what a backup does not include, so after the restore, re-add your cards to Apple Pay and re-pair Bluetooth accessories like headphones.
If the same problem comes back after a restart and a force restart, erase the watch with step 3 and restore it from a backup with step 6. If you are handing the watch to someone else, unpair it with step 5 and remove the cellular plan when asked. If you already erased it from the watch itself, clear Activation Lock on the web as FAQ 4 below describes, or the new owner will be stuck at setup. For more help with your Apple devices, see our Apple Device Tips series. For Apple's own version of these steps, Apple's support page on unpairing and erasing covers the process from its end.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
A restart (soft reset or force restart) is like rebooting a computer. It turns the watch off and back on without touching your data, apps, or settings. A factory reset erases everything on the watch and restores it to the state it was in when you first took it out of the box. Restart it first. Only factory reset if the problem persists or you are giving the watch away.
It depends on the method. Unpairing through the Apple Watch app on your iPhone (step 5) backs the watch up to your iPhone first, and Apple says the same for the forgotten-passcode charger method (step 4). Erasing from the watch's own Settings (step 3) has no documented fresh backup, but the watch backs up to its paired iPhone automatically whenever the two are near each other, so you can restore from the last of those. Apple's backup article adds that Health and Fitness data is included only in backups made to iCloud or as an encrypted backup on your computer, so back up your iPhone one of those two ways. Health data the watch has already synced to the Health app on your iPhone stays on the phone either way.
You have two options. If you know your watch passcode, go to Settings, then General, then Reset, and tap Erase All Content and Settings. If you forgot your passcode, place the watch on its magnetic charger, hold the side button until the power menu appears, then press and hold the Digital Crown until the erase prompt shows up. Both methods erase the watch but leave Activation Lock active. To remove Activation Lock afterward, use the iCloud.com/find steps in FAQ 4.
Only the iPhone unpairing method removes Activation Lock automatically. If you factory reset from the watch itself (with or without your passcode), Activation Lock stays on. This means anyone who tries to set up the watch will need your Apple Account password. If you already reset the watch and need to remove Activation Lock, go to iCloud.com/find, sign in with your Apple Account, click the Apple Watch under All Devices, click Erase, and once it is erased, click the Remove button that appears under it.
Put it on its magnetic charger. A red lightning bolt means the battery is too low to turn on, and Apple's article on a watch that will not turn on says a fully drained watch can need up to 30 minutes on the charger before it turns on. If no lightning bolt appears, reposition the watch on the charger, clean the back of the watch and the charger, and try a different cable and power adapter. If it still will not charge, force restart it by holding the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, until the Apple logo appears. If it still does not respond, contact Apple Support for service.
Apple Device Tips
How to Reset AirPods
How to Use Noise Cancellation on AirPods
How to Connect Apple Pencil to iPad
How to Unpair Apple Watch
How to Share Location on iPhone
How to Connect AirPods to Laptop
How to Turn Off Find My iPhone
How to Unhide Apps on iPhone
How to Schedule a Text on iPhone
How to Reset Apple Watch
← you’re hereHow to Record a Phone Call on iPhone