Mac not unlocking after watchOS 7 update

Thanks. None of the other techniques worked for me, but once I tried the watch App, General | Reset | Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings, I was finally able to check the System Preferences | Security and Privacy | Use Your Apple Watch to Unlock Your Mac box without getting the error message. Re-pairing my watch took 10 minutes or so, but the process offered to re-install my settings from backup so I didn't have to spend all day rebuilding those (though I can't guarantee this will work for you.) After that, all I had to do was re-install my USAA credit card and make it default. Fairly simple.

I had this issue also. I finally resolved it. Here's how:

Go to System Preferences

Click Apple ID

Click Overview

Sign out

Restart your Mac

Open System Preferences

Click Apple ID, and

Sign back in to your iCloud account

Go to System Preferences/Security & Privacy/General and check "Use your Apple Watch…"

Worked for me. Hopefully it will for you, too.

LightningMike,

Make sure your watch, phone and Mac are using the same iCloud account, and all are logged in. Also Make sure that WiFi is turned on in all devices as well. (I was on wired net and had to turn in WiFi to see the option.) I believe Bluetooth must also be on.

I am running the following:

macOS Big Sur 11.1

iOS 14.3

watchOS 7.2

All i had to do was sign out of iCloud on both Macbook and iPhone.

Go to the respective settings apps and sign out of the Apple ID that your are using.

Sign back in on both devices.

Go to Macbook, Settings->Security and Privacy.

Check the box -> Use Your apple watch to unlock apps and your Mac

So a few things to double check. I know they may have been mentioned, but just in case:

• Make sure both Wifi and Bluetooth are both on, and that your watch (phone) and computer are all on the same Wifi
• Make sure your phone (and watch) and computer are logged into there same Apple iCloud account.
• Check Settings->Security&Privacy and make sure that the option to unlock using the watch is shown.
• If shown, uncheck it, re-check it, and try again.

This has worked for me several times now. Because I have two different iCloud accounts (work and personal) I am often connected via the wrong account, and it simply stops working.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice. Nothing worked for me except unpairing and pairing my Apple Watch. The first time I did it worked for a day. I tried everything again but I ended up unpairing and pairing it for a second time. It has been working fine for 24 hours. Fingers crossed.

Apple Watch Series 4 watchOS 7.3

iMac 27" 2020 macOS Catalina 10.15.7

iPhone 11 Pro iOS 14.4

Just want to say that the 12 steps didn't work for me.

BUT what did work for me was to turn off the "handoff" feature on my paired iPhone. Once that was off, I clicked the "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac" checkbox off in my Mac settings. I waited 10 seconds, then clicked it back on again. Boom - instantly started working properly again. (no reboot necessary!). So happy to have unlocking from my watch working again!

These steps worked for me - but not at first.

Additionally, I had to go into my iPhone's Watch app, and then turn off and turn on the setting "Unlock with iPhone" for Apple Watch.

this prompted Apple Watch to ask for my pass code.

After this I did a full shut down on my Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch.

After turning them back on, I was able to go into my Mac's settings and turn on "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac". Everything appears to be working now. thank you.

The day after my last post the "unlock Mac with Apple Watch" feature stopped working. Frustration and despair.

Coincidentally I was listening to an episode of John Gruber's podcast "The Talk Show" for which he had John Siracusa as his guest. They two discussed the state of Apple's OSes and in particular macOS. One of Siracusa's main gripes are the countless small problems with macOS. They are nothing major but together they degrade its usability and the overall experience.

I wanted to see if turning off the "unlock with Apple Watch" option in macOS Preferences and the Handoff options on my Mac, iPhone and Watch would solve the problem so I turned them off and on one by one. No luck. The problem continued.

I then turned off "unlock with Apple Watch" in macOS preferences as well as Handoff on my Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch. I then rebooted all devices. The problem continued for a while and then magically it worked.

The next day, due to other Bluetooth problems with the iMac's mouse, trackpad and keyboard, I reset the Bluetooth module and then did a factory reset of all connected Bluetooth devices. These two options are in the Bluetooth menu holding down alt and shift.

All Bluetooth problems seem to be resolved. The Apple Watch unlocks the iMac, the keyboard, mouse and trackpad don't disconnect and the MacBook Pro does not trigger a connect screen on the iMac.

Fingers crossed.

This is what I did:

1. Turn off "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac" in the "General" pane in the "Security & Privacy" section of macOS Preferences.
2. Turn off "Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices" in the "General" section of macOS Preferences.
3. Turn off "Handoff" on your iPhone in Settings/General/AirPlay & Handoff"
4. Turn off "Enable Handoff" in the Watch app on your iPhone. You have to scroll down in "General"
5. Turn all these back on. Sometimes I have rebooted all devices.
6. Wait for a couple of hours or perhaps until the next day.
7. If that does not work then "Reset the Bluetooth module" and "Factory reset all connected Apple devices". Hold down the "alt" and "shift" keys while selecting the Bluetooth menu and you will see a "Debug" submenu, where you can find these two options. Be sure to have a USB to Lightning cable to re-connect and re-pair your Bluetooth devices such as keyboard, trackpad and mouse.

Good luck!

I isolated my problem to a USB 3 device and it's cable. I have a Satechi 4-port aluminum USB 3 Hub, which connects with an odd USB-A to USB-A cable. When connected to my Mac mini, Watch unlocking was unreliable (although I could do password approval in System Prefs without problem). Disconnecting it seems to allow unlock to work without issue.

I tried several USB-C to USB-A cables that came with SSDs, but the hub didn't even work with them. So I tried the original cable and several A-to-C adapters. The two small adapters work with unlock, but the Amazon cable adapter doesn't.

After reading multiple post and attempting multiple troubleshooting methods described, I read a reply that suggested resetting the iWatch. I went ahead and just unpaired my watch from my phone and paired it again. Then attempted to check off the box to "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and you Mac". This actually worked. Just simply unpair.

Go to the Watch app on your phone

Click on top left corner "All Watches"

Click on the "i"

Click on "Unpair Apple Watch"

Once done, proceed to pair the watch again. Try this method. Might just be as simple as that.

The Monterey update to 12.4 (along with update to iOS 15.5 and WatchOS update to 8.6) seems to have resolved this issue for my 14" MacBook Pro (M1 Max).

A guy on another forum posted this, and this kept it working for me. After taking the laborious steps above:

After spending hours trying tons of various suggestions for exactly the same issue, this suggestion solved the issue.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251803595

What I did after following the above (just in case it mattered):

1. Toggle "KeyChain" off and then back in iCloud settings on the Mac.
2. Restart the MacBook.
3. Then, went to enable the "Use your apple Watch..." checkbox and after 1-2 attempts, it worked!

After 6 Months, Apple may have gotten aoud to noticing this was completely screwed up. Last round of updates:

iOS 14.1

WatchOS 7.3

MacOS BigSur 11.1

FINALLY - My watch was detected, able to be selected in the security preference panel for watch unlock and now unlocks my Mac mini. I did not have to re-pair my watch with my phone, or erase or reset any settings, however I have done those in the past to attempt to fix the issue, so that may still have to be done (the keychain settings and preferences file delete as well) to get ti to work. And now I see MacOS 11.2 is available..... I really hope that doesn't break it again. Restarting in 3..2..1....