Sticky Digital Crown

A sticky Digital Crown can be caused by the crown's gasket / seal / o-ring becoming dislodged.

As the part has worked loose from your Apple Watch and fallen out, contact Apple Support (mail-in service may be available, if required), make a Genius Bar reservation or visit an Apple Authorised Service Provider to arrange for your Apple Watch to be serviced:

Apple Watch Service Answer Center - Apple Support

In the meantime, be sure not to expose your Apple Watch to water.

I had this problem on day 2 of owning Watch 1 when it first came out. I was horrified.....tried to get Apple to exchange it ....but the answer was simple .....turn it off and run under water.

I challenged Apple stating that the Watch was not waterproof according to them...but they said it would be fine

Sure enough it works. I have done several times

see Cleaning your Apple Watch - Apple Support

enjoy

Yeah it was very difficult for me to do this at first too. I've kind of just gotten used to it and do a full washdown most times after I workout-paying special attention to the digital crown to get the sweat out of there. I guess if the thing is basically waterproof a quick rinse under the faucet won't do much harm. Considering apple tells you to do that, if anything ever happens we can all just say "you told us to" 😝

Bit of a random one, but here's my experience of sticky digital crown:

I noticed that it gets very sticky (almost unmovable) while on an airplane, and frees up again as soon as I land. So, maybe there's an air pressure/humidity effect happening?

I had this same problem -- crown was hard to spin and pressing it did nothing.

I used dental floss to clear debris under the crown and it started working again!

My floss was OralB Glide to be precise -- which is a teflon style floss.

SOLUTION: Use dental floss to clear debris under the crown!

The following article may address some issues with turning your Digital Crown or responsiveness to button presses.

Get help with the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Best regards,

-Matt

Hello lothos,

It seems you are experiencing an issue with the Digital Crown of your Apple Watch. I've located a support article for this issue. It may help you find a solution:

Get help with the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Check for debris and wipe down your Apple Watch

If the Digital Crown gets stuck or won’t move, it might be because of dirt or debris. If you find substances like dust or lotion around the Digital Crown, follow these steps to clean, and repeat as needed:

1. Turn off your Apple Watch and remove it from the charger.
2. If you have a leather band, remove it from your Apple Watch.
3. Hold the Digital Crown under lightly running, warm, fresh water from a faucet for 10 to 15 seconds. Soaps and other cleaning products shouldn't be used.
4. Continuously turn and press the Digital Crown as water runs over the small gap between the crown and the housing.
5. Dry your Apple Watch with a non-abrasive, lint-free cleaning cloth.

If you can press and rotate the crown, but your Apple Watch doesn’t respond

• Turn off your Apple Watch and turn it back on.
• If you can’t turn off the device, or if your Apple Watch isn’t responding, then you can force restart the devices as a last resort: Press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, until you see the Apple Logo.
• If the issue still isn’t resolved, get more help.

Thank you for contributing to Apple Support Communities.

Cheers,

Bobby_

If you prefer, contact Apple Support (mail-in service may be available) or make a Genius Bar reservation to have your watch checked under warranty:

• Contact - Official Apple Support
• https://twitter.com/applesupport
• http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

In some instances, users have experienced an issue with the Digital Crown's seal /gasket becoming dislodged.

Jonathan UK wrote:

In some instances, users have experienced an issue with the Digital Crown's seal /gasket becoming dislodged.

For example:

BEWARE of digital crown sticking

https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/comments/3j1iip/so_my_digital_crown_seal_fel l_out/

Re: Digital Crown Function

Even if the water thing does work. I don't want to have to clean out the crown every time I do exercise.

Yes, I just noticed mine doing something similar today. If I haven't used the digital crown for a while, it will have resistance when first trying to turn it. After that, it works perfectly fine until it sits idle again. I'm not sure if it's bothersome enough to contact support yet, I just hope it doesn't get worse.

Well started experiencing same issue with my sport. Bad enough that double clicking was almost impossible. Took in today to Genius and three diff people came over and tested. All said was not normal. But I decided to send back now. Will be interesting test to see how much I miss it. Bigger concern is why and perhaps the sport vs ss and possibility of it keeps happening.

Ps. We compared to four diff demo units and all had same tactile feel except mine.

I'm the same.

I noticed this morning. When I first started using it i just had to lightly touch the crown and it would scroll smoothly. Now I have to apply some pressure and even then it doesn't scroll smoothly.

Has anyone had this problem resolved yet?

I spoke to Apple Support, they did the usual check to make sure I hadn't dropped it, made sure that there was no debris blocking it.

They've made an appointment for a Genius to see it so I'll post here when I go see them.