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How do I change the Apple ID on my watch?

I have 2 Apple IDs, and the one on my watch is not the same as on my phone, so nothing on my phone is syncing to the watch.

Watch Standard 38mm, iOS 8.3

Posted on Apr 24, 2015 7:33 PM

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Posted on May 29, 2015 3:49 PM

I had the problem but fixed it. The Apple Watch wants to use the Apple ID associated with your iMessage account on your iPhone. I had to do a factory reset but I was able to change it by following these steps:


1) On your phone, log out of iMessage (settings/messages/send and receive/ then select Apple ID and it should give you the option to logout)

2) Log back in to iMessage on phone phone using your new Apple ID account

3) From your watch, do a hard reboot (by pushing in the crown and the other button at the same time)

4) From there, reset and start over by pairing your Watch to your Phone, it should automatically detect your new Apple ID account.


Good luck.

19 replies
Question marked as Best reply

May 29, 2015 3:49 PM in response to pattonsm

I had the problem but fixed it. The Apple Watch wants to use the Apple ID associated with your iMessage account on your iPhone. I had to do a factory reset but I was able to change it by following these steps:


1) On your phone, log out of iMessage (settings/messages/send and receive/ then select Apple ID and it should give you the option to logout)

2) Log back in to iMessage on phone phone using your new Apple ID account

3) From your watch, do a hard reboot (by pushing in the crown and the other button at the same time)

4) From there, reset and start over by pairing your Watch to your Phone, it should automatically detect your new Apple ID account.


Good luck.

Jun 5, 2015 2:15 PM in response to jechama8

I'm in the same exact boat, which honestly, I hope Apple knows is really not our fault. I had an Apple ID for making any Apple/iTunes purchases, and MobileMe comes around. Ok, I create a new account and subscribe to MobileMe, and now that's on iCloud. Everything in iCloud is attached to my old MobileMe login, not my Apple ID login.


If I understand the solution listed above, if I use my Apple ID on my watch, and use my iCloud account on my phone, does that mean I will no longer get messages on my watch?


I hope not. I think the better solution is for Apple to be aware that there are many of us who have two logins.

Sep 5, 2015 8:07 PM in response to pattonsm

I spent over an hour on the phone with apple and, while not ideal, we figured out the solution.


My two Apple ID's each serve a specific function. One is for iMessaging, iTunes and App Store purchases and the other is for iCloud Storage.


When the watch pairs with the phone it automatically picks up the apple ID being used for iCloud on the phone. Since this was not the account I wanted to use I had to sign out of that account and sign in to icloud using the other id.


Then I had to un-pair and re-pair the watch. At this point during set-up it will show the "correct" apple id in the prompts and allow everything to synch as desired. Once everything was done, I went back into the phone settings and reconnected it to the other apple id and EVERYTHING is working just fine.


This was a time consuming process but worth it in the long run. Now everything is working as desired.

Nov 27, 2017 3:45 PM in response to pattonsm

After trying to install HighSierra on an other external disk, I was not longer able to unlock my Mac via Apple Watch. It was not possible to switch it off and on again in the system preferences. The computer said: I the Watch has to be unlocked, but it was always unlocked.


My solution:

  1. logout in iMassage
  2. login in iMassage
  3. Switch on the unlocking feature again.

This worked for me. jechama8 gave me the idea to try this! :-) Thanks!

May 7, 2015 4:03 PM in response to pattonsm

I also have 2 Apple IDs. When I buy from the Apple, App or iTunes Store, I use abc. For iCloud backups, I use xyz.


When I purchased the watch, I signed in to do so using my standard "buy" abc ID. But when the watch arrived, the iCloud-only xyz was already listed, which I could not change. Oddly (to me), all apps purchased with the abc I.D. Nonetheless appeared as expected. FWIW, I'm a paid iCloud subscriber. No clue if that status plays a role in this -- I'm thinking since the same AmEx account number is used with both IDs, that may have sparked the link between the two IDs. Just a thought. But the bottom-line = I have the best if all worlds, with both IDs playing nice with each other (a first!).


At some point, Apple should really allow us to merge multiple I.D.s, but for now, it seems to me they are indeed aware of the problem, and have taken steps to assist via pre-establishing the I.D. to be used on the Watch, presumably for hand-off purposes. If only they'd work similar quiet magic re ipad/iPhone/Mac.

How do I change the Apple ID on my watch?

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