My update is stuck on “verifying.” What should I do?

Hi, I am encountering the same problem however it says “checking for update” and just continues to spin and spin. Any idea how I can get my Apple Watch to update?

How do I delete the update file. I don’t see a path using the directions you provided. Thanks!!

My update for iwatch is stuck on preparing on my iphone

Hello SheilaJ14,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities.

If you're having issues updating your Apple Watch, you'll want to try the actions provided in article, Update your Apple Watch - Apple Support.

"Need more help with updating?

Try these steps:

1. Make sure that your Apple Watch is connecting properly to its charger. 
2. Restart your Apple Watch.
3. Restart your paired iPhone.
4. Try again to update your Apple Watch.

If the update won't start:

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap General > Software Update.
3. Delete the update file.
4. Try again to update your Apple Watch.

Learn what to do if you see 'Cannot Install Update' when updating Apple Watch or if your Apple Watch says you need more available storage to install a watchOS update."

If you need additional help, contacting Apple Support would be a good idea. You can reach them at Get Support.

Best regards.

Mine was fine until yesterday and now the battery rapidly runs down and an update is stuck saying preparing.

Watch update 10.3.1 always break,

I did:

restart watch

restart phone

on/off Bluetooth

on /off 5G

phone full charge (also, always plug in charger too)

watch full charge (also, always plug in charger too)

not continue, never

Can somebody tell anything what happened?

thanks

This worked for me! Thank’s for the tip! I was in contact with apple support and the person I spoke with verified that this was a big problem and that they didn’t have a fix for it. They only asked me to get back to them during the week. But the thing about deleting the OS update and turning off auto updates solved it for me, for now.

I’m having the same issue with the update being stuck in preparing mode and my watch’s battery being drained in less than 5 hours. It was perfectly fine yesterday.

Same here! My phone updated last night and I started using my fully charged watch when I got up ot 7. At 8 my watch was down to 10%. I’ve never needed to charge my watch during the day, ever!

While researching THAT issue, I’m now also stuck trying to do the 10.4 update. I’ve restarted everything so many times I can’t even count. It never finishes the 10.4 update and I have no idéa of what happened with my phone update last nigth vs the fact that my watch battery is crashing. Why isn’t Apple doing anything about this??

Yes and now my watch is rapidly running out of power!

Having the same problem. I think you can wipe the watch and then turn off auto updates. A total pain.

new plan. Turn off auto update. Delegate the update file. wait till they fix this.

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Tap General > Storage. Delete the update file.

Where do you find the update file because I can’t find it and so also apple support did not find it when they took over my phone! So I’m stuck with the problem.

Does not work

Same with me. iOS is the latest, restarted both phone and watch, both connected to the electrical power, watch has 60% of its space free and its battery at 90%, but no improvement, the update is stuck at the preparation phase. Any ideas?

PS if I remember correctly some problem happened at the previous update and the solution was to shut down the watch (but now this does not work)