Bill Riski Author

Level 1

12 points

Apple Watch stopped working to unlock my iMac

The feature worked fine till recently. Now all I get in Preferences is "your watch must be logged into iCloud. See the Apple Watch app." I've checked everything Apple knowledge base mentions and the Preference Security setting still will not let me use my Apple Watch. to log on to my iMac.

Apple Watch

Posted on Dec 21, 2021 11:17 AM

Reply

Similar questions

My Apple Watch is signed in to my iCloud account, but I still can not use the Watch to unlock my Mac. Why? Every time I interact with the "Allow Apple Watch to unlock the Mac" checkbox in the Security & Privacy section of System Preferences I see this notification. It doesn't make any sense at all since my Apple Watch is signed in to my iCloud account. I have only one iCloud account and I use it for all my devices, including the Apple Watch, iPhone and Mac. Shared clipboard doesn't work as well (I can not paste on my Mac the items that I have previously copied on my iPhone or iPad). I have macOS 11.2.3 on my MacBook. Why is this happening and what can I do to fix this?
3271 8
apple watch can't open MacBook air M1 (opens iMac) since updating apple watch 5 and MacBook air M1 will not allow me to set up and get the following message Your Apple Watch must be signed in to iCloud to allow it to unlock your Mac. I have checked and all seems fine, watch will unlock iMac no problem Apple watch 7.6.1 Iphone 12 14.7.1 MacBook Air 11.5.1
338 1
Apple Watch Series 8 Doesn't Unlock Macbook Air 15" My series 8 watch (running 10.0.1) will work for awhile unlocking my Macbook Air 15" (running 13.6), but after an overnight of being asleep this feature seems to turn off automatically. When I try to turn it back on in settings, the computer says that the watch needs to be signed in to icloud. But my watch IS signed in to icloud. I've restarted both my watch and my computer to no avail. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance.
1481 7

2 replies

Bill Riski Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 22, 2021 6:22 AM in response to lllaass

Thank you. Safe Mode alone did not fix the problem, but reinstalling macOS Monterey did the trick.

Reply

Level 10

210,699 points

Dec 21, 2021 1:00 PM in response to Bill Riski

First, boot to Safe Mode. That boot up takes minutes and clears caches and other things that may resolve your problem.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Second try a hard reset of the watch by depressing and holding the crown and button until the Apple logo appears.

Last would be to unpair and the resetup the watch.

Reply

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Apple Watch stopped working to unlock my iMac

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