How to Unpair Apple Watch and Restore from Backup

Apple Watch is a fantastic computer on your wrist, but every once in a while either something comes along that will make you need to restore or reset it. Maybe something went wrong, or maybe you’re getting a new iPhone or Apple Watch.

Either way, because Apple Watch is tied to iPhone, it requires a few extra steps. Today, we’re going to show you how to unpair an Apple Watch from an iPhone, and how to restore an Apple Watch from an iCloud backup.

Unpairing and Backing Up Your Apple Watch

Always remember to backup Apple Watch. To do this, simply do an iCloud backup on your phone. To unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone:

Enter the Watch App
Select your Watch on the ‘My Watch’ tab
Click the ‘i’ info button.
Select ‘Unpair Apple Watch and follow the instructions.

This is the best method for restoring an Apple Watch, as it will disable things like Find My iPhone and Activation Lock in the process.

If for some reason you want to restore from your Apple Watch, you can do that as well:

Put Apple Watch on charger
Press down the side button on Apple Watch
Press down on the power button on the power down slider
Click Erase Content and Settings

This will erase your Apple Watch, but will still keep it tied to your iPhone.

Restore from Backup

Now that you’ve resorted your Apple Watch, you can restore it from backup, or even create a new Watch with the same backup. To do this:

Launch the Watch App
If you don’t currently have an Apple Watch synced to your device, click start paring. If you do, click on your current watch on the ‘My Watch’ tab, then select ‘Pair a New Watch’.
Pair your Apple Watch
Click ‘Restore from Backup’ on your Phone
Select which Backup you’d like to use

Once you do this, you’ll have all the info of your previous Apple Watch.

Be sure to stay tuned to Apple Toolbox for more tips, tricks, and how tos.

Binyamin Goldman( Senior Writer )

Binyamin has been writing about Apple and the tech sector as a whole for over five years.

His work has been featured on Forbes, MacWorld, Giga, MacLife, and more.

Additionally, Goldman is the Founder of BZG, a software development company focusing on Apple devices.

Currently a Senior Writer at AppleToolbox, Goldman has written for Updato and Inside Pulse and was a founding member of WatchAware and Mulling Apple.