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A friend handed me his Apple Watch Series 9 last month and asked me to set it up. The watch was still paired to his iPhone, still had his health data on it, and still showed his payment cards. He just said “wipe it” like it was obvious.
It wasn’t obvious. I opened Settings on the watch, poked around for a few minutes, found what looked like the right option, and then hit a wall when it asked for his Apple ID password to remove Activation Lock. He wasn’t around. I had to figure out what actually needed to happen before I could finish the job.
That experience is what made me want to write this properly. Because there isn’t one way to reset an Apple Watch. There are three, and choosing the wrong one either leaves Activation Lock in place, skips a backup, or does more than you needed.
Table of Contents
First: Know Which Reset You Actually Need
Before touching any buttons, figure out which situation you’re in.
Restart is what you want if the watch is slow, acting glitchy, or draining battery faster than usual. Nothing gets erased. It’s the same as restarting a phone.
Force restart is for when the screen is frozen or the watch isn’t responding to anything. Also erases nothing.
Full reset wipes everything and returns the watch to factory state. This is what you need if you’re selling it, giving it away, fixing a persistent software problem, or you’ve forgotten the passcode.
Most guides jump straight to the full reset. But if you’re just dealing with a minor bug, a restart is all you need and it takes thirty seconds.
How to Restart Apple Watch (The Simple One)
Press and hold the side button — the long button on the side, not the Digital Crown — until a slider appears on screen. Drag the Power Off slider to the right. The watch shuts down. Press the side button again to turn it back on.
That’s it. If your watch was being sluggish or an app was misbehaving, this fixes it most of the time.
How to Force Restart When the Screen Won’t Respond
This is the one that takes a bit more coordination.
Press and hold both the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time. Keep holding both for at least ten seconds. The screen may go black first. Keep holding. When the Apple logo appears, let go of both buttons.
One important thing: if you see the Apple logo with a progress ring around it, your watch is in the middle of a software update. Don’t force restart it. Leave it on the charger and wait. Interrupting an update mid-way can cause problems that are harder to fix than whatever sent you here in the first place.
How to Do a Full Factory Reset From the Watch Itself
Use this if you’ve forgotten your passcode or you want to wipe the watch without your iPhone nearby. Your watch needs to be on its charger for this to work — it will not give you the option if it’s not charging.
Press and hold the side button until you see the Power Off slider appear. Now, without releasing, press and hold the Digital Crown. Keep holding the Digital Crown until the screen changes to show “Erase all content and settings.” Tap it, then tap Reset to confirm.
The watch will erase itself and restart to the setup screen.
One thing to know: this method does not remove Activation Lock. If you’re resetting a watch that’s tied to your Apple ID and you want to give it to someone else, they won’t be able to set it up without your Apple ID password, even after this reset. You need to unpair it from iPhone first if you want Activation Lock gone.
How to Reset Apple Watch From iPhone (The Better Way If You Have Your Phone)
This is the method I should have used with my friend’s watch, and the one Apple recommends for most situations. It removes Activation Lock automatically, creates a final backup before wiping, and handles cellular plan options if the watch has a SIM.
Keep your iPhone and Apple Watch close together throughout these steps.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap the My Watch tab at the bottom. Tap General, then scroll down and tap Reset. Tap “Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings.” You’ll be asked to confirm, and you may need to enter your Apple Account password.
If the watch has GPS and cellular, you’ll get an option to keep or remove your mobile plan. If you’re pairing the same watch to the same iPhone again, keep the plan. If you’re giving the watch to someone else or not pairing it again, remove the plan. If you’re unsure, contact your carrier after the reset.
Wait for it to finish. It takes a few minutes. When it’s done, the watch shows the welcome screen and is ready for a fresh setup.
How to Unpair Apple Watch (Which Also Resets It)
Unpairing does a reset automatically, and it’s the cleanest option when preparing the watch for a new owner because it handles Activation Lock removal without any extra steps.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap My Watch, then tap All Watches at the top left. Tap the information icon next to your watch. Tap Unpair Apple Watch, then confirm. Enter your Apple ID password when prompted.
The watch backs itself up to your iPhone one final time, then erases and unpairs. Activation Lock is removed. The new owner can set it up fresh with their own Apple ID.
This is the step I wish I had started with when my friend handed me his watch.
What to Do If You’re Locked Out After Too Many Passcode Attempts
If the watch shows a message saying “Too Many Passcode Attempts” and won’t let you in, the process is the same as the on-watch factory reset above, but there’s a specific sequence that catches people out.
Put the watch on its charger. Press and hold the side button until the Power Off slider appears. Then press and hold the Digital Crown until the Erase option appears. The reason this trips people up is timing: if you release the side button before switching to the Digital Crown, the watch goes back to the locked screen and you have to start over.
According to Apple’s official support page, before the watch erases, a backup is created on your iPhone if the watch and iPhone are nearby. So even in this situation, you may not lose everything.
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A Few Things Worth Checking Before You Reset
Make sure your watch has enough battery. Apple recommends above 50 percent charge before resetting. If it’s low, put it on the charger and let it sit before starting.
If you’re resetting because of a software bug that appeared after a recent update, check Apple’s support page first to see if a fix is already available. A full reset is sometimes unnecessary when the issue is a known watchOS bug that gets patched in a minor update.
And if you’re resetting to sell or give away the watch, do it through the iPhone method or unpair it. Both remove Activation Lock. The on-watch method alone does not, and a watch with Activation Lock still on is a frustrating handoff for whoever receives it.