My update is stuck on “verifying.” What should I do?

Hello SheilaJ14,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities.

If you're having issues updating your Apple Watch, you'll want to try the actions provided in article, Update your Apple Watch - Apple Support.

"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.

Learn what to do if you see 'Cannot Install Update' when updating Apple Watch or if your Apple Watch says you need more available storage to install a watchOS update."

If you need additional help, contacting Apple Support would be a good idea. You can reach them at Get Support.

Best regards.

new plan. Turn off auto update. Delegate the update file. wait till they fix this.

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Tap General > Storage. Delete the update file.

I powered my iPhone 15 off, then restarted it and the software update to my Apple Watch SE installed right away.

Power down you phone, wait a few minutes, then power on. When I did this, the Apple Watch update installed. Leave the watch on its charger, and your phone nearby connected to the internet (WiFi).

Having the same problem. I think you can wipe the watch and then turn off auto updates. A total pain.

I contacted apple support and they didn’t hear about this problem. He took my phone over but nothing changed. So he created a ticket and I told him that we all have the same problem and that the problem with the battery is the worst! In 3 to 4 hours I need to charge it. Also at night I never had to charge it but over night my watch battery is dead …. It is frustrating!

so best way to connect with apple support!

The problem persists. I restarted both the phone and the watch, same problem, stuck at preparation phase. I also deleted the downloaded file update and tried to update directly from the watch, same problem. Now I erased again the update file and stopped the automatic updates, waiting Apple to fix the problem by a new software update.

Watch update 10.3.1 always break,

I did:

restart watch

restart phone

on/off Bluetooth

on /off 5G

phone full charge (also, always plug in charger too)

watch full charge (also, always plug in charger too)

not continue, never

Can somebody tell anything what happened?

thanks

Same with me. iOS is the latest, restarted both phone and watch, both connected to the electrical power, watch has 60% of its space free and its battery at 90%, but no improvement, the update is stuck at the preparation phase. Any ideas?

PS if I remember correctly some problem happened at the previous update and the solution was to shut down the watch (but now this does not work)

Same here! My phone updated last night and I started using my fully charged watch when I got up ot 7. At 8 my watch was down to 10%. I’ve never needed to charge my watch during the day, ever!

While researching THAT issue, I’m now also stuck trying to do the 10.4 update. I’ve restarted everything so many times I can’t even count. It never finishes the 10.4 update and I have no idéa of what happened with my phone update last nigth vs the fact that my watch battery is crashing. Why isn’t Apple doing anything about this??

Happening the same to me while trying to update to 10.4... forever verifying. Apple Watch 9, iPhone 14 iOS up to date. Tried restarting both, erasing the update, disabling automatic update... doesn't work. :(

This worked for me! Thank’s for the tip! I was in contact with apple support and the person I spoke with verified that this was a big problem and that they didn’t have a fix for it. They only asked me to get back to them during the week. But the thing about deleting the OS update and turning off auto updates solved it for me, for now.

None of these steps are working. I have tried this multiple times, restarting, resetting etc. Watch and phone both are connected to the charger, both have almost 100% battery and yet the watch is unable to verify update due to internet connection even when Internet is connected on phone. Since this is first setup for the watch, I cant access any setting on the watch. Please help in fixing this.

Trying to update to OS 10.5. Sticks on “Verifying” After a long wait, error message says I am not connected to internet, which isn’t true. My watch is connected to the internet through my iPhone 15. Where do I get support to correct this issue.

also my iPhone 15 is brand new, and Face recognition is not available when I try to set it up

Hi, I am encountering the same problem however it says “checking for update” and just continues to spin and spin. Any idea how I can get my Apple Watch to update?