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User profile for user: noutram
noutram Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Watch no longer unlocking my Mac

For a while, my watch has been able to unlock my Mac when it wakes from sleep. Recently, this has stopped working. Everything is updated to the latest version.


  • I can use my watch to unlock the padlock in system preferences - that all works fine


  • However, if I lock the screen, I can no longer unlock the screen using my watch (it seems to try for while, then simply offers a password prompt)


It was working when I reinstalled Mac OS 11.5.1. A day later it stopped working again.


Any suggestions?

Apple Watch

Posted on Jul 31, 2021 1:01 AM

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5 replies
User profile for user: sterling r
sterling r
User level: Community Specialist

Jul 31, 2021 7:44 PM in response to noutram

Hi noutram,


We understand you're trying to unlock a Mac with an Apple Watch. We're happy to offer some guidance.


To start we'd recommend verifying you have all the setting enabled for this to work. You can review the steps to set up unlock with watch here: Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch


If you have everything configured properly, you can also try turning off the unlock with watch and setting it back up again.


Some additional things to check:


  1. Confirm that both your computer and watch have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on.
  2. Make sure that both the computer and watch are using the same Apple ID account.
  3. Make sure that your Apple Watch currently has a passcode enabled on it.


If you're still unable to unlock the computer with the watch, we'd recommend contacting Apple for assistance: Get Support


We hope this helps. Take care!

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Watch no longer unlocking my Mac

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