Apple Watch not marking SMS text as read

I had no issues like this until the day I activated my new phone (12 Pro Max). No issues with iMessages, but if I read a non-iMessage SMS on my iPhone, it would still show unread on my Watch and iPad. I followed the steps listed in this thread and others, and the suggestions of some YouTube videos. I contacted Apple and after nearly three hours with an agent, it was escalated to engineering. Their last reply was that they were aware of the issue and hoped it would be resolved in an upcoming iOS 14.xx release.

After looking more into potential fixes, I decided to try this and it worked.

• On your iPhone: Go to Settings --> Messages --> Send & Receive.
• Under You Can Receive iMessages To and Reply From, deselect your phone number. You will be asked to confirm you want to remove the number from iMessage and FaceTime. Click Remove. I did not lose any messages or experience any other irregularities on any of my devices when I did this.
• After a few seconds, add the phone number back.

After doing this, any non-iMessage that came in to my iPhone that I read would correctly show as read on my Watch and iPad. It will not mark read any messages received before this, but moving forward after following those steps, it synced correctly.

Hopefully this is a possible fix for those who have exhausted all other options.

I also have been having this issue for weeks, probably since updating to the most recent iOS. (14.1). My Apple Watch is running version 7.1.

Messages will read as unread on my watch, despite all messages being shown as read in my phone. I have checked to make sure it’s not finding unread messages in a filtered view, such as “unknown senders,” but I default my Apple Watch view to “All messages.”

I have done the pairing, unpairing sequence, reset both my phone and watch, etc. which temporarily resolves the issue, but it’s almost like the pairing gets lost and when I read a message on my watch, it won’t recognize as read until I open it on my phone. This tends to happen most frequently when I receive messages from group texts, but it does happen in conversation threads with individuals, as well.

It’s very annoying to always think there’s an unread text on my phone, only to see they’ve all been read and my watch just isn’t keeping up. I hope they’re able to find a fix for this soon!

Hello Hairgeek_6, 

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. From your message it sounds like you're having an issue with SMS messages syncing between your iPhone and Apple Watch. 

If this is correct, let's begin by gathering some additional information:

1 - Are you currently using Messages in iCloud? 

2 - You mentioned that you've restarted. Have you restarted your iPhone and Apple Watch with the following sequence:

 - Power off Apple Watch

 - Power off iPhone 

 - Power on iPhone 

 - Power on Apple Watch

Be sure you've waited for each step to complete before proceeding to the next one. If you haven’t restarted the devices before, here’s how:

How to restart your Apple Watch

Restart your iPhone

Once the restarting is complete, test to see if there is any change with the way the SMS messages are performing on your Apple Watch.

3 - Are the SMS messages you send from the Apple Watch appearing on the iPhone at all?

4 - When did this issue first begin?

All the best.

Hi Hairgeek_6,

Great information you've provided.

With the issue occurring on your Mac as well as your Apple Watch, and only occurring with the SMS/MMS messages, the next step will be to check the Text Message Forwarding that you have set up.

Text Message Forwarding is how the other devices send and receive the SMS/MMS messages. Follow the steps from this article: How to forward SMS/MMS text messages from your iPhone to your iPad, iPod touch or Mac.

If all the settings appear correct, try turning it off on the Mac and iPhone > restarting the devices > and setting it up again.

Let us know the results.

Enjoy the day!

• This worked for me!
• Thanks Mikey407!
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• On your iPhone: Go to Settings --> Messages --> Send & Receive.
• Under You Can Receive iMessages To and Reply From, deselect your phone number. You will be asked to confirm you want to remove the number from iMessage and FaceTime. Click Remove. I did not lose any messages or experience any other irregularities on any of my devices when I did this.
• After a few seconds, add the phone number back.

After doing this, any non-iMessage that came in to my iPhone that I read would correctly show as read on my Watch and iPad. It will not mark read any messages received before this, but moving forward after following those steps, it synced correctly.

I just want to make this relative again in 2021, this helped me and I want this thread to be the first option that comes up on a google search. This has been nagging at me for months and the solution below worked.

• On your iPhone: Go to Settings --> Messages --> Send & Receive.
• Under You Can Receive iMessages To and Reply From, deselect your phone number. You will be asked to confirm you want to remove the number from iMessage and FaceTime. Click Remove. I did not lose any messages or experience any other irregularities on any of my devices when I did this.
• After a few seconds, add the phone number back.

Try this!!!!

I have this issue as well. I have a Apple Watch series 2 and iPhone 12.

This issue started when I upgraded from my Xr to iPhone 12 on iPhone 12 launch day. I am setup to use Messages in iCloud already.

When I send a Message with my watch it DOES immediately show in my phone. But when I read messages on my iPhone they still remain unread on my Apple Watch series 2. And when I send Messages from my iPhone they show in my Watch, but show as Unread. Said again, Messages I sent from my iPhone 12 show as Unread on my Watch Series 2.

I have attempted the power cycle path suggested in this thread and the issue remains. I have attempted Hard Re-boots on both iPhone and Watch and issue remains. I have Un-paired and reset my Watch and issue remains.

I’m also having the same problem described. I’m also having a problem with a group text with 2 other people: one on an iPhone and the other on a Samsung. Each of us is only seeing some of the other messages from each other. This only started when I upgraded to the iPhone 12pro.

Ive had this exact issue for about 6 months now. I’m reset my phone and my watch. Completely wiped the watch and deleted the app. It will work for half a day then go back to saying I have unread messages.

I had the same problem going from the iPhone X to iPhone 12 pro with my Apple Watch series 1. I just got series 6 watch and my non iMessage texts won’t show as read when I read them on my iPhone. If I read them on my Mac Book Pro they clear so it’s definitely an iPhone 12 issue. I called apple support and no one could help me.

Can someone solve this issue for us. It is a pain!!! Thanks

Apple Watch 5, iPhone 12 Pro Max with the same issue.

My fix after powering down watch and phone on again was to simply unpair then repair the watch with phone. That did it for me, just be sure not to opt out of your cellular plan if you have one. I also restored Watch from the same backup that day.

Hope this helps!

Hi Hairgeek_6,

Sorry to hear it didn't work for you. However, your original post was back on Sept. 18th? I think at this point I'd head to the genius bar and they'll sort it out, one way or another.

Good luck

I actually had the same problem. My fix was: on the watch app go to Notifications>Messages>mirror my phone. If it’s already set to that, sit it to custom and back to mirror my phone. Then finish it off with restarting the watch. That’s what worked for me and hopefully it works for you guys.