May I know how to pair my apple watch to a new iphone without resetting apple watch?

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May I know how to pair my apple watch to a new iphone without resetting apple watch?

Hi everybody,

I am gonna change to the new iPhone 6S soon, and now searching for the best way to transfer the pairing data of my Apple Watch to the new phone.

So far, I found the official suggestion on pairing the Watch with a new iPhone involved a reset action on the Watch. All the content and setting will be erased after un-pairing and pairing again.

May I know if there is a better way to avoid resetting the Watch and so I don't need to setup the Watch all over again. As I know, there is a backup file inside the Watch App on the old iPhone, after I restored the old iPhone data to the new iPhone, will the Watch App recognize that and retore it on the Watch again too?

Thank you.

Apple Watch, null

Posted on Sep 24, 2015 1:12 AM

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Answer 1

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Sep 24, 2015 1:30 AM in response to inazuma.30

You can restore most of your data and settings to your watch via the new iPhone by following this process:

Unpair your watch from your old iPhone using the Apple Watch app (this will also refresh the watch backup):
- iPhone: Apple Watch app > My Watch > General > Apple Watch > Unpair Apple Watch.
- You may need your Apple ID password if you are using watchOS 2 (due to Activation Lock).
Backup your old iPhone:
- via iCloud (encrypted as standard) or
- via iTunes on a computer - IMPORTANT: choose to "Encrypt iPhone backup", so that the backup includes sensitive data (including Health data, saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings and website history).
- https://www.apple.com/support/iphone/backup/
Follow Apple's recommended steps to remove personal information from your old iPhone:
What to do before selling or giving away your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
Restore your new iPhone from backup:
Restore your device from an iCloud or iTunes backup - Apple Support
Pair and set up your watch:
- Choose to restore the watch from backup when offered the option during set up.
- If using the latest software, this will restore most of your data and settings except for: Apple Pay cards, passcode, synced playlist, Bluetooth pairings.
- Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

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Answer 2

inazuma.30 Author

Level 1

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Sep 24, 2015 2:16 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Hi Jonathan UK,

Thanks for your prompt and detail reply.

I will follow your suggested steps to transfer the pairing data of my Watch to the new iPhone tomorrow, really can't wait to have my new iPhone delivered.

By the way, I really dunno about the real difference between the encrypted and non-encrypted iPhone Backup whether sensitive data will be included or not. I thought it will backup all the data even if we don't set a password to encrypted the backup file.

Thank you so much for your information.

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Answer 3

Jonathan UK

Level 10

164,015 points

Sep 24, 2015 2:24 AM in response to inazuma.30

You're welcome! 🙂

inazuma.30 wrote:

I really dunno about the real difference between the encrypted and non-encrypted iPhone Backup whether sensitive data will be included or not. I thought it will backup all the data even if we don't set a password to encrypted the backup file.

"The Encrypt Backup feature in iTunes locks and encodes your data. An encrypted iTunes backup includes certain information that other backups don't: Your saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, Website history, Health data. iTunes doesn't encrypt your backups by default."

About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support

"If you want to save Health and Activity data from your iOS device or Apple Watch, you’ll need to encrypt your backup: Select the box called Encrypt [device] backup and make a memorable password."

How to back up your devices using iCloud or iTunes - Apple Support

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