Pairing an existing Apple Watch after failed upgrade to a new iPhone flow

I just got my shiny new Titanium iPhone 15 Pro, and I set that bad boy next to my existing iPhone 14 Pro Max and started the transfer to my new iphone flow. Everything else worked great, but my Apple Watch Ultra is not migrating to my new phone. After a little banging around and back-and-forth, I finally got the migration to work, and it went into the Apple Watch dark screen with very, very slow circle of dots starting to march. Then my screen on my iPhone went dark (like it's supposed to after minutes of inactivity). When it woke up, the little dots on my watch stopped, and it was just a pure black screen on my iphone. I forced quit the locked-up watch app, waited for the marching dots to stop (about like an hour and a half later it seemed, I stopped watching after a while). Now my watch is not connected to my new iphone, it may (or may not) be connected to my old one. I turned it off to get any progress on the watch transfer process (it wouldn't start if the old iphone was still on). Now my watch app only has the option to set up a new watch, and won't allow me to set up my existing one. I know I can erase the watch and set it up like a new one, but I like the way I have it set up. Can I get back into the "new iphone, let me transfer all your stuff" flow somehow?

Posted on Sep 29, 2023 3:53 PM

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Oct 2, 2023 8:54 AM in response to John Bedworth

Hey John Bedworth,


There could be an available backup to restore your Apple Watch from. Check out the section "If you don't have your old iPhone or you erased it" for steps to pair your watch with your new iPhone: How to pair your Apple Watch with a new iPhone - Apple Support


If you don't have your old iPhone or you erased it

Your Apple Watch might still be paired with your old iPhone. Use the steps below to unpair:

1. Erase your Apple Watch
2. Set up your new iPhone and sign in to iCloud. If you've already set up and signed in, skip this step.
3. Open the Apple Watch app on your new iPhone, then pair your watch with your new iPhone.
4. Try to restore from a backup. Make sure that your iPhone and Apple Watch are up to date; if they're not, you might not see your backup in the list. You will lose Activity, Workouts, or settings on your watch that changed between the last backup and now. If you use iCloud in iOS 11 and later, Health and Activity data is stored in iCloud and automatically kept up to date on devices where you're signed in with the same Apple ID. 

* If you’re asked to restore from a watch backup, select the most recent backup. 
* If you don't have a backup, you need to set up your Apple Watch as new. 

7. Follow the onscreen steps to finish setting up.
8. Start using your Apple Watch with your new iPhone. You might need to wait a few days for all your iCloud data to appear.

iCloud doesn't store your Activity Sharing data.


We hope this helps.


Take care!

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Pairing an existing Apple Watch after failed upgrade to a new iPhone flow

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