HOW TO WIPE AND RESET YOUR APPLE WATCH

techforyou | July 22, 2019 | How To, Mobile, Mobile Tricks, Tricks | No Comments

A clean slate may be just what your Apple Watch needs. Whether you want to start fresh, wipe all your personal data, fix buggy issues, let someone borrow it, sell it, or get back in after you forgot your passcode, resetting the Watch back to factory settings is pretty simple, and you can do it with or without your iPhone.

DISABLING ACTIVATION LOCK (IF YOU NEED TO)

When selling, letting someone else borrow your Apple Watch, or sending it in to be repaired, you’ll need to turn off “Activation Lock” (on watchOS 2 and higher) on your Apple Watch before doing so or else the other user won’t be able to set it up without your Apple ID and password. Activation Lock will not be enabled on your Apple Watch if you don’t have “Find My iPhone” turned on on your paired iPhone.

If it is enabled, you can disable it from the Apple Watch app on your iPhone or from iCloud on your computer. From the “My Watch” tab in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap your watch name at the top, then tap the info button. Tap “Unpair Apple Watch” then “Remove [Carrier] Plan” if you have one on an Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular).

Next, enter your Apple ID password and tap again to confirm. With your Apple Watch no longer paired with your iPhone that has “Find My iPhone” enabled, Activation Lock will be disabled on the Watch.

To turn off Activation Lock from your computer, log into icloud.com, then select “Find My iPhone.” Click “All Devices” up top, then choose the Apple Watch. Click on the “Erase Apple Watch” option, then “Next” to erase the device. After that’s done, click the “X” next to your Apple Watch name to remove it from your iCloud account.

When you’re ready to begin the reset, get the Apple Watch you wish to erase, then do the following:

1. Open the “Settings” app on the Apple Watch and go to “General”
2. Scroll down and choose “Reset”
3. Tap on “Erase All Content and Settings”
4. Enter the passcode for the Apple Watch
5. Scroll down and confirm you wish to reset the Apple Watch and erase all data from the device

Once you confirm the reset, a spinning wait indicator will appear on the screen for quite some time, eventually followed by an  Apple logo with an indicator around that.