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My watch says that it is in airplane mode (because it was synched with my phone which I put in airplane mode). However, I can't turn off airplane mode because it is locked. It won't unlock with my phone because it is in airplane mode....so we're stuck in a vicious cycle and it now doesn't work. How to break out of this cycle?
Hi Jonathan, tried this multiple time, the watch shows like its resetting and then reverts to the main screen where it is locked. I had put it in airplane mode, and my daughter was playing with it and the watch got locked. I am unable to unlock or reset the same. Please help...
The same thing happened to me however I did not reset my apple watch,
1. Just power off your apple watch
2. Make sure your phone is not on airplane mode when you do this
3. Restart your apple watch and it will tell you to wear it on your wrist and then unlock your iphone
4. Wear it on your wrist and then lock and unlock your iphone making sure bluetooth is switched on
5. Your apple watch will now show you the time and it is unlocked.
It worked for me, I believe it might work for someone else too, so just sharing.
I can't do these steps because the watch is locked, waiting on my iphone to unlock. It won't unlock when I unlock my iphone because it is in airplane mode.
Hi runnerjill
1. Connect your Apple Watch to its Apple Magnetic Charging Cable.
2. Press and hold the side button (ie the bottom one, not the Digital Crown) until you see the "Power Off" slider button on the screen (along with power reserve and device locked).
3. "Force press" (ie harder than a normal tap) the screen where it says "Power Off" and then tap on Erase all content and settings.
You will then be able to re-pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone - choosing to restore from backup instead of setting it up as a new watch. This will restore most of your previous data and settings and is a very easy process.
From: If you forgot the passcode for your Apple Watch - Apple Support
Afterwards: to be able to unlock your Apple Watch directly in the future, you can set it up with its own passcode using one or the other of:
My Watch > Passcode > Turn passcode On.
Settings (the cog icon in your apps, accessed via a single press on the Digital Crown) > Passcode (the bottom option) > Turn Passcode On.
You have the choice of setting a simple passcode (4 numbers) or a longer one. It can be the same as your iPhone passcode or (as Apple recommends) a different one. You can also still leave the "Unlock with iPhone" option selected.
I can't set up the watch with it's own passcode. My company's security policy has this setting overwritten so that I can't change it. They require that it be done through the iphone. Now that I have restored my phone from backup, does this mean that I should never put it in airplane mode or else it will just get stuck again?
runnerjill wrote:
I can't set up the watch with it's own passcode. My company's security policy has this setting overwritten so that I can't change it. They require that it be done through the iphone. Now that I have restored my phone from backup, does this mean that I should never put it in airplane mode or else it will just get stuck again?
Yes - otherwise, if the watch gets locked whilst in Airplane Mode, you will be back where you started.
I'm glad we were able to resolve your immediate problem, though 🙂
Unfortunately, the UI designers didn't think about this issue. There should be a way to turn off airplane mode when the watch is locked, just like with the phone. The simplest workaround I know follows.
If you press and hold the side button, you can power cycle to phone, and that it will come back in normal mode, so no need to restore it form backups.
To avoid getting the phone locked in airplane mode, disable airplane mode before taking it off your wrist.
I have the same
This worked, but took eight goes to get it to actually do anything! Absolute nightmare! Better solution needed Apple!
Much better and simpler solution than restore from backups. Thank you!
My watch is stuck in airplane mode and locked
