Apple Watch Stuck in "Preparing" during watchOS 9.6 update

Hello JWSFloridaGator,

We understand that you're unable to update your Apple Watch. To clarify, do you complete the additional steps from the resource you were reviewing:

Update your Apple Watch:

"Need more help with updating?

Try these steps:

1. Make sure that your Apple Watch is connecting properly to its charger. 
2. Restart your Apple Watch.
3. Restart your paired iPhone.
4. Try again to update your Apple Watch.

If the update won't start:

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap General > Software Update.
3. Delete the update file.
4. Try again to update your Apple Watch."

If you have completed all of the steps that have been provided in the resource, and the issue persists, we suggest that you reach out to Apple directly. They will be able to assist you further. You can follow this link to connect with them: Get Support

Thanks for connecting with Apple Support Communities.

Take care

Happened to me as well. Then I noticed that I still had Express VPN toggled on. When I turned that off. It slowly finished preparing. Maybe the VPN was interfering or maybe it was just really really slow in doing its thing. I have a 15 pro and ultra 2. I wouldn’t expect their bleeding edge tech to take more than 20 min to update.

My iWatch is stuck on preparing the update! Now what??

On your iPhone, open the Watch App, go to General>Storage>select the watchOS update, and delete it.

Restart, and force restart your iPhone. Restart, and force restart your Watch, dance around the room a couple of times and try again.🙃

My watch had been stuck in Preparing Update for about 2 weeks. I had done everything I could think of to get it to finish. I finally went into General>Storage and found the update and deleted it. It is no longer in the Preparing Update any longer. I plan to retry the update tonight.

The following steps are wrong.

If the update won't start:

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap General > Software Update.
3. Delete the update file.
4. Try again to update your Apple Watch."

It should be as follows

If the update won't start:

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Tap General > Storage
3. Delete the update file. (Should be close to the top as the list is sorted by size.)
4. Try again to update your Apple Watch."

THANK YOU! Not much worse than incorrect "help". Any way to get that post deleted?

tried this process of delete storage 2-3 times, reboot today and still hangs - so far I have wasted pretty much the whole day

storage indicates the download is 532.6 MB - seems like applesauce.

maybe 13.1 will be the solution!

None of the suggestions works at all, because there is no file "Watch update" to delete. I am really starting to hate Apple in the same way I hate Windows--nothing but update freezes and added complexity.

I see NO update file whatsoever in General>Storage. And yet I still cannot update the ****** watch.

NONE of the suggestions provided by the Apple Support: were helpful; made ANY difference; DIDN'T work!!

Do you see a file called “watchOS 10.3.1” under Storage? How much free space do you have?

I’ve got the same problem with WatchOS 10.4 it keeps preparing. This is happening from this morning at 6:00 am. Any help ? Thanks 🙏🏻

As yourself, I didn't find an update...at first. After restarting phone and watch, then Watch → General → Storage showed the update file, which can be selected and then a Delete button is offered.

So now I've got a retry on the update going, which it claims is going to take 7 hours. I am on a Gbit Xfinity link. I should be able to download 700Mbytes in moments.

We'll see. This is psychotic.

I had the same problem trying to update to 10.4. I restarted my Apple Watch Series 8. On my phone, I opened the Apple Watch app > general > storage, and deleted the update file as recommended. Restarted my phone. Went back to the Apple Watch app on my phone and tried the update again and it worked. The update was done in 15 minutes.