How to unpair Apple Watch [Definitive Guide with Bonus]

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Your Apple Watch is made to last a long time. But with every iteration of the Apple Watch, you tend to get bored with the older one and you feel the urge to replace your older Apple Watch with a new one. You might even want to sell your old Apple Watch and use that money to purchase a new one. If that’s the case, then we’re here to help you do it properly, check out how to unpair Apple Watch.

Unpairing your Apple Watch is pretty easy, but if you do not want to lose any data, then you need to do it the right way. When you unpair your Apple Watch, everything is erased and restored to the factory settings. You need to do this if you wish to pair it with another iPhone or fix some watch problems. So, letโ€™s go ahead and learn how to unpair your Apple Watch from paired iPhone or even without it.

Unpairing your Apple Watch

Now, to unpair your Apple Watch, there are two methods. One of which may enable iCloud activation lock and may make your Apple Watch unusable until you disable the activation lock manually.

Method 1. How to unpair Apple Watch with iPhone:

If you want to unpair your Apple Watch and then give or sell it to someone, then this is a step in the right direction.

Unpairing your Apple Watch using your iPhone removes the activation lock which can help the person you give your watch to.

To do this, make sure you have both the devices close to each other, and follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Watch App on your iPhone.
  2. Make sure that you are in the My Watch tab.
    how to unpair apple watch
  3. Tap on All Watches in the top-left corner.
    how to unpair apple watch
  4. Tap on the i icon beside the watch that you wish to unpair.
  5. Tap on Unpair Apple Watch.
    how to unpair apple watch
  6. Tap on Unpair ABC’s Apple Watch.
  7. Enter your Apple ID and Password when prompted. This will disable the activation lock.

Note: (AFTER STEP 5) For Cellular Model Apple Watch, Choose to keep or remove the plan according to your needs.

Your iPhone will now create a backup of the watch. Hence, it may take some time for the process to complete. Once completed your Apple Watch and iPhone will be successfully unpaired from each other.

Method 2. How to unpair Apple Watch without iPhone:

You can unpair your Apple Watch even if you do not have access to the paired iPhone. The only downsides of this method are that a backup of the Apple Watch is not created with this method (since the iPhone is not connected to the Watch), and, the Activation Lock stays.

To do this, follow along:

  1. Launch the Settings App on your Apple Watch.
  2. Tap on General.
  3. Scroll down to the bottom.
  4. Tap on Reset.
    how to unpair apple watch
  5. Tap on Erase all Content and Settings.
    how to unpair apple watch
  6. Scroll down till you see Erase All.
  7. Tap on Erase All.
    how to unpair apple watch
  8. When prompted, enter your passcode to confirm.

Note: (AFTER STEP 5) For Cellular Model Apple Watch, Choose to keep or remove the plan according to your needs.

This will unpair your Apple Watch and erase all the data.

Bonus Tip

If you chose the second method, then you might want to follow these steps to disable the activation lock. Disabling the activation lock will help the person you gave or sold your Apple Watch, to setup the Apple Watch easily without any hassles.

When you unpair your Apple Watch using your iPhone, it removes the Activation Lock. It also creates a backup so that you can restore it later and get back all your data.

Once you complete the process, your Apple Watch becomes internally new. You can now pair it with a different iPhone, sell it, or gift it to someone without worries.

But if you’ve unpaired your Watch without an iPhone, then an iCloud Activation Lock is enabled to secure your Apple Watch.

Now, you might want to disable the Activation Lock. Follow these steps to disable the iCloud Activation Lock:

Disable the Activation Lock:

  1. Go to the iCloud website.
  2. Sign In using your Apple ID and Password.
  3. Click on Find iPhone.
  4. Click on All Devices.
  5. Choose the Apple Watch on which you wish to disable the iCloud Activation Lock.
  6. Click on Erase Apple Watch.
  7. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  8. Finally, click on the X icon next to your Apple Watch.

This will disable the iCloud Activation Lock on your Apple Watch.

That’s it for the guide on how to unpair Apple Watch. We hope this article helps you in successfully unpairing your Apple Watch. If you have any queries, feel free to drop a question in the comments section below. Also, share this article with your friends and family.

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If you still have any query on Apple Watch unpairing, feel free to drop a comment in the comments section below. Also, share this article with your friends and family.

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AUTHOR.

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Shaikh Adil

Adil is a writer at ytechb. He started caring about technology after he got his first iPhone. He likes to help others by posting tips & tricks and providing solutions regarding iOS problems. When not at work, he enjoys playing football, watching movies, watching tech videos on YouTube, listening to music and podcasts and playing video games.

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