apple watch will not pair manually or automatically

watch became disconnected from phone. Followed all directions to unpair / re-pair. Automatic pairing fails repeatedly. Manual pairing fails as well--the watch never displays a 6 digit code. Has anyone seen this before /solved for it? Thank you.

Posted on Jun 6, 2016 8:25 AM

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4 replies

Jun 6, 2016 8:42 AM in response to tswanson211

Hi


For future reference, it is not necessary to unpair and re-pair Apple Watch when it becomes disconnected. If your watch becomes disconnected via Bluetooth and cannot connect to a known Wi-Fi network at the time, it will show the Disconnected icon on the watch face:

User uploaded file


Bluetooth disconnections occur whenever the paired iPhone is unavailable (such as during iOS updates or when your iPhone is out of range). Your watch and iPhone should reconnect automatically a short while after being brought close together again.


If they do not reconnect automatically, rather than unpairing your watch, instead try keeping your iPhone and Apple Watch close by each other and following these steps until they do reconnect:


  • Check that both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled on your iPhone:

    It may help to toggle Bluetooth off and on again on your iPhone (Settings > Bluetooth).

  • Check that Airplane Mode is not enabled on your watch:
    • When viewing the time on your watch, swipe up on the watch face > swipe left / right to the Settings Glance.

      If the Settings Glance already states Connected and the symbol at the upper-right corner is a green phone symbol, then your watch is already connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth.

    • If your watch is not connected and Airplane Mode is turned on, tap the button to turn it off.
    • It may otherwise help to toggle Airplane Mode on and off again.
  • Restart both devices, turning both off together, then restarting your iPhone first.


For the best performance from your watch, keep both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi permanently enabled on your iPhone.

Jun 6, 2016 8:43 AM in response to tswanson211

If your watch is still only disconnected rather than unpaired, follow these steps to prepare it for re-pairing with your iPhone:


On your watch: go to the Home screen on your watch (a single press on the Digital Crown) > Settings (cog icon) > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings.


This will reset your watch to factory settings.


Then re-pair it using the Watch app on your iPhone, choosing to restore your watch from backup when the option is offered:


Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

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apple watch will not pair manually or automatically

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