Apple Watch update 10.4 stuck at Preparing

I just got off the phone w/ Apple and it works now. I had to delete some phone storage to make room for it to download the update. I offloaded apps like TikTok and instagram and deleted some message threads/photos/videos/ gifs that my message app was saving. As I deleted, the orange line would move a long and eventually it finished and let me install. Hope this helps!

Go to Settings>General>IPhone Storage to find stuff to clear up

I was finally able to update my watch ONLY after I deleted several videos to free of storage for the update. I have plenty of memory on my watch and phone but Apple must require enough space on your iCloud storage... which Apple was asking me to upgrade my cloud storage. But instead I just deleted videos (quickest way to free space). Not fair that Apple does this, in my humble opinion.

But anyone with issues, try upgrading cloud storage or deleting videos from cloud and then see. I bet it works then. Sneaky Apple... just sneaky.

The charger I was using was one bought through Apple. A combined one for my watch and phone. After multiple failed attempted, finally used my husbands original Apple Watch charger and the update installed without a hitch. No idea why that would be. Had tried the restarts and deleting of file over and over and always hung up when using my combo charger. No hang up at all with the original charger though.

I fixed it! Had the same issue for days with the battery drain and getting stuck at preparing.

How to stop the battery drain:

on the watch app go into General > Storage and delete the update. Then go to the Software Update tab and turn off automatic updates. The drain only happens if your watch is stuck at “preparing…”

How to get the update to go through:

just keep deleting the update and starting again. It took me like 6-7 tries for it to finally work and that last try all I did was turn off wifi and Bluetooth on my phone from the settings app (not control centre) and initiating the update from the watch itself not the watch app. And it worked!

Here's how I fixed mine. Not sure if every step is necessary but ultimately everything worked.

1) On iPhone "forget" the Bluetooth connection to watch, and delete the watch app as well.

2) On watch make sure it's connected to Wi-Fi

3) Put watch on charger and check for Updates. The latest update 10.5 will display and now the update can be installed from the watch.

4) Using the Settings on the watch select Reset and reset the watch

5) Install the watch app on the iPhone

6) Establish the Bluetooth connection between the watch and the phone

Lot's of steps but for the first time in what seems like months everything is working perfectly

super frustrating - but here's what finally worked for me:

delete the update from your watch and check your local phone storage. settings>general>iPhone storage.

local storage on iPhone remaining was something like 20-30GB (plenty, you'd think!). started getting rid of backups, app data (lots of downloaded podcasts...), local photos (use Google Photos for that anyway so no need for local storage). as I kept deleting I noticed that the "preparing" bar started moving again and then - done!

good luck 👋

I deleted the update files multiple times, and got stuck in Preparing. I then decided to try it one more time, and 1. deleted the update files, 2. then shut off the watch, 3. rebooted the iPhone, 4. rebooted the watch again, then 5. downloaded and reinstalled the update. It worked. Not sure yet if the battery drain issue is fixed. It had drained completely within about 6 hours from a full charge which led me to this thread to begin with.

April 12 - I had the same problem - stuck on "preparing" forever. I finally did the scenario:

Closed out the Update Screen on my iPhone

On my iPhone - went into Apple Watch App/General/Storage

In Storage, I deleted OS 10.4

Turned off my iPhone for a Restart

Turned off my iWatch

Waited a few minutes

Rebooted my iPhone and my IWatch

Went on my iPhone back into the iWatch App/General/Software Update

Selected the OS 10.4 update and selected Install

It took about 20 - 30 minutes but it went thru the entire install (but slowly)

Now I am waiting to see if I have any problems tomorrow on the charge on my iWatch

Went to apple watch series 8 Settings-General-Storage and deleted watchOS 10.4 file. Then restarted the installation of 10.4 and it works. My watch also noticed before the upgrade that discharged from 100% charged overnight to 10% in less than a day, very unusual. Hope it helps

I finally got it to work! Deleted the update, restarted both watch and phone then put both on charge, restarted the update and then just left them for a couple of hours as I had read on another thread that the update takes between 1.5 - 2 hrs

Here's how I fixed mine. Not sure if every step is necessary but ultimately everything worked.

1) On iPhone "forget" the Bluetooth connection to watch, and delete the watch app as well.

2) On watch make sure it's connected to Wi-Fi

3) Put watch on charger and check for Updates. The latest update 10.5 will display and now the update can be installed from the watch.

4) Using the Settings on the watch select Reset and reset the watch

5) Install the watch app on the iPhone

6) Establish the Bluetooth connection between the watch and the phone

Lot's of steps but for the first time in what seems like months everything is working perfectly

I managed to get 10.4 installed, but had to baby it. I deleted stored data that had been in the stuck mode, and started from the beginning. I think the key was keeping the app on the watch open, or at least running in the background. For whatever reason it always stayed stuck in the preparing mode if the app was not open. I checked every few minutes for progress, and slowly but surely the new iOS prepared and installed. Hope this helps.

Here's how I fixed mine. Not sure if every step is necessary but ultimately everything worked.

1) On iPhone "forget" the Bluetooth connection to watch, and delete the watch app as well.

2) On watch make sure it's connected to Wi-Fi

3) Put watch on charger and check for Updates. The latest update 10.5 will display and now the update can be installed from the watch.

4) Using the Settings on the watch select Reset and reset the watch

5) Install the watch app on the iPhone

6) Establish the Bluetooth connection between the watch and the phone

Lot's of steps but for the first time in what seems like months everything is working perfectly

This worked for me. I was able to find "watchOS 10.4" in the storage list and delete it. Then after going back to Software Update it showed 10.5 with a "download and install" button. Downloading now. appears to be working. It's a shame we have to figure these things out on our own.

I should have said I kept the app on my phone open. Again, my problem is solved.