Updates on Apple devices usually work without any hiccups. The newer devices such as the Apple Watch may sometimes have issues while patching it with an upgrade. One of the common problems faced by some users is the error message ‘Unable to Verify Update – The Watch OS update couldn’t be verified because you are not connected to the internet.”
A simple restart, unfortunately, doesn’t fix this issue. Here are a few suggestions that will help you in addressing this issue.
If you can’t update to the latest watchOS because of unable to verify update error, try entering your passcode on your Watch
One important caveat: Do not interrupt your iPhone or watch if it’s reached the stage of “installing.”
Check that you updated your iPhone to the latest iOS
Connect your iPhone to WiFi AND power (outlet preferred)
Try turning off cellular data (LTE) temporarily on your iPhone
Place your iPhone directly next to your Apple Watch to make sure they’re in range
Enter your passcode on your Watch before initiating the update
Keep your Apple Watch on the charger until the update finishes
Check that your Apple Watch has at least a 50 percent charge before starting
Close all other open apps on your iPhone (double-press Home or swipe up from the bottom to get the app switcher and swipe up on app previews to close)
Restart both your Apple Watch and iPhone and then perform the watchOS update
Unable to Verify Update Message on Apple Watch: Connect to Apple Watch Charging Station
Yup, sometimes it’s the simple things that make all the difference. Make sure you connect your Apple Watch to its charging base before starting a watchOS update. So make sure your Apple Watch is on its charger and has at least a 50 percent charge.
Unable to Verify Update Message on Apple Watch: Check the Update File
The first thing you can do if you are facing this error while updating your Apple Watch is to check the update file. When the update is stuck and won’t start, you will need to delete the update from your iPhone.
To do so, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Tap on General > Usage > Software Update and delete the update file. Once you have deleted the file, try and install the update again. It’s important to remove this file before attempting to re-download the update.
Unable to Verify Update Message on Apple Watch: Turn Off in Specific Order
The other trick that helps with Apple Watch problems is just switching off the devices in sequence and applying the update.
Make sure your iPhone is running the latest iOS, and your Watch is charged. Power off your iPhone first. Next power off the watch. Wait for a few minutes and then switch back on the phone first followed by the watch. Now, open the watch app on your iPhone and try to apply the update.
If the two options above didn’t help you with the issue, your best bet, in that case, is to set up your Apple Watch as a new device by erasing all content and Settings, Pair the Watch and then apply the update.
On the Watch: Go to General > Settings >Reset > Erase All Content and Settings
Pair the Watch again to the iPhone: Open the iPhone app and pair it to my Apple Watch
Restore your Watch from the back-up
Connect your Watch to the charger
Open the Apple Watch app and apply the update from your iPhone
Summary
These steps should take care of the issue. Although it’s a hassle to set up the unit as a new Apple Watch it usually works in most cases. Please share with us if these tips fixed your issue or you found a different way to get this problem solved.
We hope these tips helped you with the weird unable to update message on your Apple Watch. Please feel free to share if you found other ways to get around this issue.
Reader tips
What worked for me: first, turn off WiFi and Cellular Data on your iPhone, then restart it. After the restart, turn on WiFi but leave Cellular Data off. Enter your watch’s passcode and then try updating
Try using a different WiFi network. Go to a neighbor’s, a friend, a local public Library or location with available WiFi, Starbucks or some local coffee shop, and so forth. Since each network connects to Apple’s servers with different addresses, it might work!
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
I had this same problem with my 6. I read here in the comments to try resetting my network settings and that worked! I had tried all of the other, kind of annoying things prior but this worked, yay! Thank you!
One of the key things to check is the free storage space on the watch (Settings/General/Usage).
If available storage is low, disable the highest consumers of the storage or delete unnecessary items stored on the Watch (oftentimes it’s music or podcasts).
Power cycle the Watch for good measure, and the download will complete and the installation will commence.
Hello. I´ve been having the problem : ‘Unable to Verify Update – The Watch OS update couldn’t be verified because you are not connected to the internet.”
What works for me :
– Iphone SE
– Apple Watch Serie 5
I just turn off wireless on iphone before verifying update and like magic it starts to update …
None of the above worked for me. WatchOS 7.0.2 update on S5 44mm Watch stuck because of “unable to verify because you are not connected to the internet”. Apple support has no idea how to resolve this. As I see this issue is widespread and persisting far more than two years, and still Apple not able to help. I tried 3 different iPhones, different wifi connections, tried even to update on 4G data, nothing changes. My watch stuck on OS 6.2.8. – Unpaired + re-paired, reset Watch, pair from backup then pair as new, nothing changes. Unbeliavable. Apple is clearly going downward.
I have tried all of these and now my watch is simply stuck at nothingness. It will not pair because when I try to pair it goes directly to update and the update is unsuccessful.
I did everything you said like setting up the watch as a new one, twice, turning off and on both, iPhone and watch, trying a different wifi network, etc.
Sorry that you are not able to update your Apple Watch and still get the unable to verify the update message.
First, make sure the paired iPhone is updated to its latest iOS version–to check, go to settings > general > software update. If an update is available, make sure you have a recent backup available via iTunes/Finder/iCloud and then update your iPhone first.
After updating the iPhone, place your Watch on its charger and also charge your iPhone. Place them right next to each other.
Do you use a passcode on your watch? If so, try temporarily turning the passcode feature off, then close the watch app on your iPhone and restart both the watch and the phone. Once restarted, connect both device to a power source, sit them next to each other, and try the update again.
To close the watch app, double press the home button or swipe up from the bottom to open the app switcher. Swipe left or right to locate the Watch app preview and then swipe that off the top of your screen.
None of these things help with the watchOS 4.1 update. And exiting the upgrade process causes the phone to reset to a fresh out-of-the-box unpaired state. Which also precludes using the Watch app to check the update file. So now my Apple Watch is bricked. It seems like Apple can’t get updates right anymore.
Sorry things aren’t working out for your with your watch OS 4.1 update. Yuck! It must feel so frustrating to not get that darn thing updated and working again.
Let’s see what we can do. Have your tried to force restart the watch? Press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, then release both buttons when the Apple logo appears on screen.
An alternative, is to perform a forced restart but then when it asks for the passcode, just keep pressing on the screen until it asks to reset to factory defaults.
If you’ve been there, done that some people report success by just letting the Watch fully drain (so off the charge and ON until it doesn’t have an battery remaining.) Then when placed back on the charger, after a period of time it automatically reboots and starts working again.
I had this same problem with my 6. I read here in the comments to try resetting my network settings and that worked! I had tried all of the other, kind of annoying things prior but this worked, yay! Thank you!
One of the key things to check is the free storage space on the watch (Settings/General/Usage).
If available storage is low, disable the highest consumers of the storage or delete unnecessary items stored on the Watch (oftentimes it’s music or podcasts).
Power cycle the Watch for good measure, and the download will complete and the installation will commence.
Hello. I´ve been having the problem : ‘Unable to Verify Update – The Watch OS update couldn’t be verified because you are not connected to the internet.”
What works for me :
– Iphone SE
– Apple Watch Serie 5
I just turn off wireless on iphone before verifying update and like magic it starts to update …
🙂
I hope this can help.
None of the above worked for me. WatchOS 7.0.2 update on S5 44mm Watch stuck because of “unable to verify because you are not connected to the internet”. Apple support has no idea how to resolve this. As I see this issue is widespread and persisting far more than two years, and still Apple not able to help. I tried 3 different iPhones, different wifi connections, tried even to update on 4G data, nothing changes. My watch stuck on OS 6.2.8. – Unpaired + re-paired, reset Watch, pair from backup then pair as new, nothing changes. Unbeliavable. Apple is clearly going downward.
I have tried all of these and now my watch is simply stuck at nothingness. It will not pair because when I try to pair it goes directly to update and the update is unsuccessful.
This still doesn’t work
Hi guys! For me, I still have this problem!
I did everything you said like setting up the watch as a new one, twice, turning off and on both, iPhone and watch, trying a different wifi network, etc.
None of this work. What should I do?????
It is really annoying!!!
Please send me your thoughts
Hi Cristian,
Sorry that you are not able to update your Apple Watch and still get the unable to verify the update message.
First, make sure the paired iPhone is updated to its latest iOS version–to check, go to settings > general > software update. If an update is available, make sure you have a recent backup available via iTunes/Finder/iCloud and then update your iPhone first.
After updating the iPhone, place your Watch on its charger and also charge your iPhone. Place them right next to each other.
Then on your iPhone, let’s change your DNS temporarily and use Cloudflare’s DNS or Google’s Public DNS
And then open the Watch app on the iPhone. See if you can now update.
If you use a passcode on your Apple Watch, enter it to unlock your watch.
I’ve tried everything and it is still come up with the same error! What is the problem? How I can fix it?
I reset my phone network settings. Yes, I had to re-enter my network passwords but it worked. My watch is now updating.
This is what finally worked for me! Thank you Donna!
Unfortunately, I am still getting this problem for my update to watchOS 6.1.2
Hi Patrick,
Do you use a passcode on your watch? If so, try temporarily turning the passcode feature off, then close the watch app on your iPhone and restart both the watch and the phone. Once restarted, connect both device to a power source, sit them next to each other, and try the update again.
To close the watch app, double press the home button or swipe up from the bottom to open the app switcher. Swipe left or right to locate the Watch app preview and then swipe that off the top of your screen.
What if non of those work…
I’ve tried all the above, I spent 3 hours with Apple support & I reset my network settings & tried everything. Still nothing :/
None of these things help with the watchOS 4.1 update. And exiting the upgrade process causes the phone to reset to a fresh out-of-the-box unpaired state. Which also precludes using the Watch app to check the update file. So now my Apple Watch is bricked. It seems like Apple can’t get updates right anymore.
Hi Fteter,
Sorry things aren’t working out for your with your watch OS 4.1 update. Yuck! It must feel so frustrating to not get that darn thing updated and working again.
Let’s see what we can do. Have your tried to force restart the watch? Press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, then release both buttons when the Apple logo appears on screen.
An alternative, is to perform a forced restart but then when it asks for the passcode, just keep pressing on the screen until it asks to reset to factory defaults.
If you’ve been there, done that some people report success by just letting the Watch fully drain (so off the charge and ON until it doesn’t have an battery remaining.) Then when placed back on the charger, after a period of time it automatically reboots and starts working again.
We hope something helps! Keep us posted.
Cheers,
Liz