How do I remove an Apple Watch Source from Health App?

I also have this problem and have been unable to find a solution. For us OCD types, it's irritating to have extra baggage hanging on there.

So, I have an update on this issue.

If you restore from backup when re-pairing your Apple Watch, it will not generate another source in the Health App.

This is helpful if you don't already have a duplicate listed. I haven't figured out a way to remove them. Hopefully they'll add it in iOS 9.

Had I known there was a "backup" and or "restore from backup" option I would've used that..

THe way I unpaired was thru the reg Bluetooth settings option on iOS settings app (not watch settings app)

so where is this backup watch option located at?

ugh stinks I could've prevented this, but I hope we can remove from list asap!

thx for update Adam

I'm 99% sure the backup is stored somewhere in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone. A backup gets created when the watch is un-paired.

I found some screenshots via the Google that shows the option. It shows up when you pair the watch (it is a button that says restore from backup).

OOuch! I did see that, but since I didnt manually "backup" anything, I chose the other option 😕

I solved this issue for myself, removing bad and stale health sources from the iOS health app.

There are three ways to backup an iPhone.

1) iCloud

2) iTunes - encrypted

3) iTunes - not encrypted

I noticed that the note next the iTunes unencrypted backup option specifies that it will not back up account passwords and health data. Sure enough, backing up the phone then restoring from an unencrypted iTunes backup removed iOS health sources for me.

Good luck!

Wait, does that mean it'll erase all of the health data? I only want to get rid of the extra/duplicated sources.

Yes, I think it will delete all of the health data. For me, this was worth it, not only did i have a bunch of old sources in the list but one of them was in a bad state that prevented adding a new Apple Watch.

So this is not a fix that would work for the normal issue of not being able to delete individual sources 😟

Same problem. Apple Care Tech Support, usually able to provide solutions, is so-far stumped. They are supposed to get back to me. The nearest Genius Bar is about an hour away from me, so might be awhile before I get there again. I suspect there is no easy way. The CS rep said that if there is no solution, the bug issue? feature? 😉 will be sent up the line. Hope there will be a resolution, maybe with 9.0.2.

The actual devices are listed in an encrypted database alongside the other health app data. That being said, as of now, the only way to remove an orphaned device is to restore a non-encrypted backup. Health data is only backed up via encrypted backups.

As I said in a previous post, to prevent this from happening make sure to always restore your Apple Watch from backup. Doing this restores the randomly generated GUID that is assigned to the watch during the pairing process. This GUID is what is referenced in the device source list (on the backend).

I tried manually deleting the items using an app called iBackupBot. But I was unable to modify the database tables due to it being encrypted.

Just out of curiosity, how is it known that the only way to remove the orphaned devices is by restoring a non-encrypted backup if all backups are encrypted? So bottom line is that the orphaned devices cannot be removed if they are listed as a source in the IOS "Health" app? But wouldn't any restoration result also in restoring the orphaned watch? Perhaps I should have gone into more detail regarding my situation, as your advice might change. I don't know if you are referring to multiple watches appearing as sources (NOT my situation), or to the same watch appearing multiple times (my situation).

Bought Apple Watch on Wednesday.

Paired with iPhone 5s on Wednesday.

Bought iPhone 6s Plus on Saturday.

Wiped and turned in 5s on Saturday.

Restored 5s backup to 6s Plus on Saturday.

Paired same watch (one I bought on Wednesday) with 6s Plus on Saturday.

Had one iteration of paired watch, and one of unpaired watch in the "Health" IOS app.

Monday called Apple Care. They had me do a Watch Restore (process automatically backs up the watch, they said). No data appears to have been lost.

Now have 3 iterations of the same watch under "Sources" in the "Health" IOS app - two are "no longer paired," the third is paired.

Still the same answer - the two unpaired iterations of the same watch cannot be deleted?

Thanks!

As of now, there is no way to manually delete orphaned sources.

When I talk about backups, I am talking about iTunes backups. iCloud are encrypted by default, iTunes backups are not.

O.K., thank you.

Go to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap on Privacy and then Motion & Fitness and tap on Reset Calibration Data.