Apple Watches are often used in pairs with iPhones. However, what happens when you lose access to your phone? Whether you’ve lost or broken your iPhone, or even if it got stolen, you’ll probably need to unpair the device.
The typical scenario usually involves using your iPhone to remove an Apple Watch from the list of paired devices. Still, there’s a way to unpair the device even if you don’t have access to the phone. Keep reading to find out how to unpair Apple Watch without old phone.
How to Unpair Apple Watch Without Old Phone
Unpairing an Apple Watch without access to the paired iPhone isn’t as complicated as it sounds. Using several simple steps, you’ll be able to unpair your Apple Watch within seconds. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open the Settings Menu from your Apple Watch.
- Navigate to General > Reset to clear all content and settings, including paired devices.
- You might get prompted to confirm your choices by typing in your password.
- You’ll need to configure your cellular plan if you’re using a GPS + Cellular model.
- If you’d like to pair your Apple Watch with the same iPhone again, you’ll need to remove the plan.
- You’ll need to cancel your cellular subscription if you’d like to pair the watch with a different device.
- Then, tap on the erase all option to confirm the action.
This will reset your Apple Watch to the factory settings, unpairing it from all devices.
Without your old phone, if you forgot your passcode
Unpairing your Apple Watch from an old iPhone is quite simple, even if you don’t have the iPhone at hand.
However, if you’ve forgotten the device’s passcode, you’ll need to follow a slightly different path. Here’s how you can unpair an Apple Watch without the old phone or the watch’s passcode:
- During the hard reset of the device, you’ll need to keep it connected to a charger to avoid any issues.
- Press and hold the side button below the Digital Crown until you see the Power Off message on the screen.
- Then, press and hold the Digital Crown until the erase all content and setting option pops up.
- Click the Reset Button, then tap it again to confirm your choice.
After the process finishes, it will erase all content and settings, including media, data, and paired devices.
Related: How to Unpair Apple Watch From Old Phone
Without your old phone via iCloud
There’s another way to unpair your Apple Watch if you cannot access your iPhone or it is broken. Using your iCloud account, you can control which devices are connected to your iPhone so that you can use it to unpair your watch or any other paired device in a matter of seconds. Here’s how you can do it:
- Open the browser from any device, and visit the official iCloud website.
- Log in to the service using your iCloud credentials.
- Go to the Settings section, then click on the ‘My Devices’ tab.
- You will see a list of paired devices. Find the Apple Watch you want to unpair, tap on it, then click the erase Apple Watch option.
Backing Up Apple Watch Data
If you’ve carefully gone through the first two methods of unpairing an Apple Watch from a paired iPhone, you’ve noticed that both options will erase all your data from your device. However, Apple Watches are designed to back up most of the data, so you don’t lose anything important.
When unpairing an Apple Watch from an iPhone, the watch backs up all the data to the iPhone. The backed-up data can later be used to restore the old one or set up a new Apple Watch. The Apple Watch backup will store most of your data, but not all of it.
App-specific data and settings, home screen layout, clock face settings, dock settings, general system settings, health and fitness data, notification settings, music settings, synced photo albums, and time zone settings will all be available in the backup.
On the other hand, the backup doesn’t store Bluetooth pairings, saved credit and debit cards, the passcode for the Apple Watch, or messages. If your Apple Watch uses iCloud and iCloud messages, your iMessages, SMS, and MMS will be automatically backed up to your iCloud account.
Why You’ll Need to Pair Your Apple Watch With Another iPhone?
Older Apple Watch devices are designed to be used in pairs with an iPhone. Apple Watches with cellular features significantly extend the functionalities of the wearables, but still, to unlock all the features of the smartwatch, you’ll need to connect it to an iPhone.
Therefore, when you unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone, you will see a red iPhone icon or a red X icon on your watch face indicating that you need to pair your device to your phone. You also won’t get notifications, messages, or calls.
Pair Apple Watch with new iPhone
Before you can pair your Apple Watch to your iPhone, you’ll need to update your iPhone to the latest version and ensure that Bluetooth is turned on. You’ll also need an internet connection, so you’ll need to connect the phone to Wi-Fi or a cellular network. Once your iPhone is ready to be paired with the Apple Watch, follow these steps:
- Place your Apple Watch close to your iPhone, and a pop-up message should appear, asking if you’d like to use your iPhone to set up your Apple Watch.
- If the message doesn’t appear, open the Apple Watch app on your phone, go to ‘All Watches’, then tap ‘Add Watch’.
- Hold your iPhone over the watch face so the viewfinder can scan the animation. Once the pairing is successful, you will see a message that your Apple Watch and iPhone are paired.
After the devices are paired, you can choose to set up the watch as a new one or restore data from a backup. Depending on your choice, you’ll need to complete some straightforward steps to finish setting up the device.
Read more: How To Remove Apple Watch From Account
Conclusion
Well, we have come to the very end. So, we hope this article has helped you discover the possible ways how to unpair Apple Watch without old phone.
Overall, you don’t have to stress anymore if you lose access to your phone, as now you know several possible ways to unpair it.