Microsoft hotmail and exchange mail not working on Apple Watch on cellular

I finally figured out the issue with the email on my watch when on cellular...no thanks to the half dozen Tier 1, 2 and genius bar folks that I have contacted on this issue. 

I recalled reading something years ago that said your phone still needs to be on (even when not

with you), in order to get email on your watch when you are out and in stand-alone cellular mode. 

So I left my phone on and in my car today while we went for a hike and the Hotmail and Exchange email finally works just fine on cellular.  So despite what the Tier 2 support folks were trying to tell me about Microsoft email not working on the watch on cellular, it works just fine, but you do need to leave your phone on, even if it’s not with you.  I had been turning my phone off when testing so that my watch would not connect to it…..and this is what was causing the issues with me not being able to send/receive email from hotmail or exchange based mail when on cellular.

So bottom line, if you want to get all your email on your watch on cellular (while you are away from your phone), be sure to leave your phone turned on at home or in your car. If you are going to be away from your phone for several days, you will want to leave it on a charger so your phone doesn't die and you can continue to get mail on your watch while you are out and about.

Very surprised that someone at Apple Engineering did not know this and mention it to me after all this time. I even had an appointment with the local genius bar folks yesterday and they could not figure this out either…very frustrating considering all the time I have spent on this over the last 2 weeks.

Thx Trece1, but it’s much more than a notification issue…there is just no way to send/receive an email on my watch from my Hotmail or Exchange accounts period when on cellular. I just get an error message that says no accounts available for Hotmail or Exchange. I have done extensive testing on this issue over the last 2 weeks since I got this newer watch.

Can folks please tell me if they are able to send/receive mail from Hotmail and an Exchange based account on the watch when running watch 9.1 on stand alone cellular? This all works fine when paired w the phone, it’s just cellular that is the problem.. thx!

Hi Bill_T1,

Yea unfortunately I have looked into all these kinds of settings over the weeks with no changes in the issue. My issue is deeper and really looks like an OS bug to me. I have an appt this week with the genius bar to see if that approach gets me anywhere…the fun continues with my fancy new Ultra… thx