How to restart an Apple Watch

How to restart an Apple Watch
(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)

While you probably don't think about turning your Apple Watch on or off regularly, if things aren't working as smoothly as you would like then knowing how to restart an Apple Watch is a useful trick.

Follow these instructions to restart your Apple Watch and you'll be back to finishing your three rings or responding to texts on your Apple Watch in a matter of seconds. 

In most circumstances, you will want to turn your Apple Watch off and then back on again, but we'll also cover the more drastic restart option in case that doesn't work.

(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)

How to turn an Apple Watch off and on

  • Press and hold the side button on the Apple Watch
  • Slide the Power Off button to the right side of the display
  • Press and hold the side button on the Apple Watch until the Apple logo appears

That's it, you've restarted your Apple Watch. It can take 20 to 30 seconds for it to finish booting up, but then everything should be ticking along again as expected.

If that didn't work, you'll need to follow these next steps to force a reset.

(Image credit: Laptop Mag/Sean Riley)

How to reset an Apple Watch

  • Press and hold the Digital Crown and side button on the Apple Watch until you see the Apple Logo (~10 seconds)

That's all you need to do, your Apple Watch will reset and you should be up and running again in about a minute.

Sean Riley

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that time was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more.  Sean is the resident mobile expert at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll find plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories along with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.