Fix: Apple Watch Fast Charging Stopped Working

Fast charging allows you to charge your Apple Watch Series 7 battery to 80 percent in about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, this feature may sometimes stop working. If you’re experiencing similar issues, restart your watch and check if you notice any changes. If the issue persists, follow the troubleshooting steps below.

What to Do if Fast Charging Won’t Work on Apple Watch

Check Your Set-Up

As Apple explains, you need to use an Apple 18W, 20W, 29W, 30W, 61W, 87W, or 96W USB-C power adapter to fast charge your watch. If you’re using a third-party USB-C power adapter, make sure it supports a USB Power Delivery of 5W or greater and use the charging cable that came with your Apple Watch.

Ensure the charging cable is plugged all the way into the USB power adapter, and the adapter is plugged all the way into the power outlet. Clean the back of your Apple Watch and the magnetic charger, and ensure your watch is properly positioned on the charger. If you haven’t removed the plastic wrap from the charger, do it now and check if you notice any improvements.

Force-Restart Your Watch

If a simple restart fails to fix your fast-charging problem, force-restart your Apple Watch. To do that, hold down the Side button and Digital Crown for 10 seconds. Release them when the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Get the Latest Updates

Connect your device to Wi-Fi, go to Settings, select General and tap Software Update. Hit the Install button to update your Apple Watch to the latest version.

If you’re running watchOS 8.5, upgrade to watchOS 8.6 Beta or newer, and check the results. Many users confirmed that watchOS 8.6 Beta solved the problem for them. If a sneaky software bug is blocking fast charging, the latest watchOS release may already contain a fix for it.

If you’re having trouble updating your device, see 12 ways to fix when your Apple Watch is unable to install watchOS updates

Use a Different Charger

If you’re using a third-party charger, check if the issue persists with Apple’s charger or an alternate charger. For example, many users have complained about Belkin Boost Pro slowing down fast charging on their Apple Watches. For many of them, this issue started occurring after updating to watchOS 8.5. Interestingly enough, the Belkin charger works well with the iPhone.

Users are convinced this is a software glitch but Apple has yet to acknowledge this problem. The good news is that you should be able to fix it with the help of an alternate charger. Hopefully, the upcoming watchOS update will pack a hotfix for this bug.

Disable Optimized Charging

To disable Optimized Charging on your Apple Watch, go to Settings, tap Battery, and select Battery Health. Then, turn off Optimized Battery Charging. Place your watch on the charger again, and wait for a couple of minutes until fast charging kicks in.

Unpair Your Devices

Unpairing your Apple Watch from your iPhone can help you fix a wide range of issues. Check if this solution solves your fast-charging problem as well.

1. On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app
2. Go to My Watch and select All Watches
3. Select the Info button next to your watch
4. Tap Unpair Apple Watch
5. Restart your devices
6. Pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone again and check the results

If fast charging still won’t work, contact Apple Support.

Conclusion

If your Apple Watch won’t fast charge, force-restart your device and install the latest watchOS updates. Make sure to use a power adapter that’s compatible with fast charging. Use a different charger and check if you notice any changes. Additionally, disable Optimized Charging, and unpair your devices.

Did you manage to fix fast charging on your Apple Watch? If you found other solutions to fix this issue, feel free to share your ideas in the comments below.