You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: Bossladyog
Bossladyog Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Apple Watch will not install previous apps

I just started using my Apple Watch again after a hiatus. Did the software update and most of my previously installed apps will not reinstall. They are there and show the option to reinstall on the iPhone watch app but they spin for a second and stop. I turned both devices off. Did a force quit on the watch app and still nothing. It’s been all day. I don’t want to erase the watch and start over but I don’t know what else to do. Watch has cellular feature and wifi and wifi is connected on both devices.

Apple Watch Series 3, watchOS 7

Posted on Mar 16, 2021 10:27 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: javaliga
javaliga
User level: Level 10
119,869 points

Posted on Mar 17, 2021 10:16 AM

Perhaps those apps are out-of-date. Go to the App Store and see if there are updates. Another possibility is that you ran out of storage on your watch. To Free-Up Storage

For songs, see the "Remove music from Apple Watch" section in:

Add music to Apple Watch - Apple Support

and for pictures, see the "Limit photo storage on Apple Watch section in:

Choose a photo album and manage storage on Apple Watch - Apple Support

Also, try unpairing and pairing your watch again and restoring from the backup just created in the unpairing process. This deletes all temp and corrupted files and re-indexes the file system. This should result in no loss of data and in some cases can free a lot of storage.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Also see:

If you don’t have enough space to update your Apple Watch - Apple Support


View in context

Similar questions

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: javaliga
javaliga
User level: Level 10
119,869 points

Mar 17, 2021 10:16 AM in response to Bossladyog

Perhaps those apps are out-of-date. Go to the App Store and see if there are updates. Another possibility is that you ran out of storage on your watch. To Free-Up Storage

For songs, see the "Remove music from Apple Watch" section in:

Add music to Apple Watch - Apple Support

and for pictures, see the "Limit photo storage on Apple Watch section in:

Choose a photo album and manage storage on Apple Watch - Apple Support

Also, try unpairing and pairing your watch again and restoring from the backup just created in the unpairing process. This deletes all temp and corrupted files and re-indexes the file system. This should result in no loss of data and in some cases can free a lot of storage.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Also see:

If you don’t have enough space to update your Apple Watch - Apple Support


Reply

Apple Watch will not install previous apps

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up