Apple Watch update 10.4 stuck at Preparing

I had the same issues. None of the things here worked for me. I downloaded, deleted, redownloaded at least 5 times. The last time, I hard shutdown both my phone and watch. Nothing.

What DID work? Updating to iOS 10.4 directly on my watch. Make sure you delete whatever download you have already, following the many instructions here, and then go to the settings on the watch.

Settings>General>Software Update

Follow the directions, just like you would on your phone. Worked perfectly, it just took a long time. Now to see if it actually solves the quick battery drain issue.

I hope this works for you!

If you delete the update from your watch, the battery consumption should return to normal. I experienced this on my watch, and it's how I discovered I was having the issue of the update stuck in 'Preparing' status.

My iPhone had over 175GB of memory but upgrade would NOT complete until I either upgraded my monthly cloud storage or deleted vids and pics to upgrade. No fair or right.

Here's what I did and it finally worked. Now the watch charges faster and stays charged longer.

Ultra

Go into Watch app on your phone.

Tap General

Tap Storage

If the update file is there delete it. If its not there, disregard.

Back out to General

Tap software update

It should have the update ready to download.

Before you download, quit the app.

Restart your iPhone.

Restart your watch.

When they're both restarted, give them a few minutes to get their head straight.

Open the watch app and try again.

Watch must be above 50% charge.

Watch must be on the charger.

Update. I deleted the update file from storage. Stopped trying to install the update. Battery life is back to normal.

Appears the update process is corrupt. When stuck in the “preparing” mode, it literately sucks the life out of the battery.

Do not attempt to update until Apple fixes it.

I am having the same issue—phone updated, watch battery won't hold a charge, and now watch update is stalled on "preparing" with no movement. Phoned apple this morning, and they said I need to update before I can get any additional help. : (

I'm also experiencing this issue-- multiple resets/pairings/ and storage delete. I turned off Automatic Updates and deleted the watch OS data from under "Storage" from the Watch App, just to stop the drain on my battery. I am holding until Apple recognizes this issue because when I spoke with Support, their solution was to send a new watch.

I have the update now, so I can’t take a screenshot, but go to

Settings>General>Software Update

Scroll all the way to the bottom. You should see something that says iOS 10.4, click that and there will be a red delete you can click.

Then download the update directly on the watch, not the phone.

This worked for my wife's watch:

1. On iPhone, open Watch app > Settings > General > Storage > Delete WatchOS 10.4.
2. Turn watch off.
3. Restart iPhone.
4. Turn on watch.
5. Download and Install update again.

I believe a similar issue with updates failing happened a year or two ago. It wasn't resolved until Apple released a new version of the update.

Had the same issue... after multiple attempts deleting and restarting the download, only ever made it to "preparing" stage and watch battery drained quickly. Finally, deleted the download file and stopped trying to install the update. So far, battery life is holding up. I will wait until Apple figures this out.

I deleted the update files multiple times, and got stuck in Preparing. I then decided to try it one more time, and 1. deleted the update files, 2. then shut off the watch, 3. rebooted the iPhone, 4. rebooted the watch again, then 5. downloaded and reinstalled the update. It worked. Not sure yet if the battery drain issue is fixed. It had drained completely within about 6 hours from a full charge which led me to this thread to begin with.

I managed to get 10.4 installed, but had to baby it. I deleted stored data that had been in the stuck mode, and started from the beginning. I think the key was keeping the app on the watch open, or at least running in the background. For whatever reason it always stayed stuck in the preparing mode if the app was not open. I checked every few minutes for progress, and slowly but surely the new iOS prepared and installed. Hope this helps.

The charger I was using was one bought through Apple. A combined one for my watch and phone. After multiple failed attempted, finally used my husbands original Apple Watch charger and the update installed without a hitch. No idea why that would be. Had tried the restarts and deleting of file over and over and always hung up when using my combo charger. No hang up at all with the original charger though.

Deleted old “stuck” update. Restarted the process again… and it’s still stuck in the “Preparing” phase.