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Apple Activation Lock

My wife and I bought an apple watch se from someone who just wanted to get rid of it. This person did a factory reset to clear her information off of it which was all well and good until we tried to pair it with my phone and it keeps saying that the phone is locked by owner. It says that the Apple activation lock is in place. We have been in contact with the seller and she is doing her best to help us. But we've hit a dead end. How do we get it off?

Apple Watch SE

Posted on Jun 12, 2022 2:59 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 12, 2022 3:11 AM

The person that you bought/got this watch from needs to follow all the steps in this link;

Remove the Activation Lock so that the buyer can use it.

If they can't or won't then get your money back or recycle the watch and mark it down as a bad experience.

2 replies

Jun 12, 2022 3:10 AM in response to Bloodshot17

The former owner isn't "doing her best" and the device wasn't factory reset when you bought it. A factory reset requires that the device has been signed out of an iCloud account. See Unpair and erase your Apple Watch.


She should have performed the steps described in Turn off Activation Lock before you send your Apple Watch in for a service, sell it or give it away in the support document About Activation Lock on your Apple Watch


She can remove the lock on the watch remotely by using the instructions


  1. On a computer, go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID. 
  2. Go to Find My iPhone.
  3. Select All Devices, then click your Apple Watch.
  4. Click Erase Apple Watch. Select Next until the device has been erased.
  5. Click the remove button  next to your Apple Watch.


Apple Activation Lock

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