While the Apple Watch alerts for incoming calls, messages, and other notifications are useful, they can sometimes get annoying. And that’s especially the case when you put your iPhone on silent mode, but the Apple Watch still rings when a call arrives. There are many instances, such as during an important meeting or while sleeping, when you need to silence your Apple Watch. So in this post, we have explained four simple ways to silence your Apple Watch. We have also added a bonus tip to help you keep Siri from being triggered accidentally on your Apple Watch.
How to Enable Silent Mode on Your Apple Watch
While Focus Modes like Do No Disturb automatically get activated on your Apple Watch when you activate them on your iPhone, the Silent Mode is something you need to activate separately to mute your Apple Watch. Here’s how you can do that:
1. Swipe up on the watch face to reveal the Control Center.
2. Now, locate and tap the “Bell” icon to turn on Silent Mode.
Cover Apple Watch with Your Palm to Silence It
You can silence any incoming alert on your Apple Watch by quickly covering the display with your palm (Akshay from our team knows it well). But to use this feature, you must first enable “Cover to Mute” on your Apple Watch. Below, we have detailed the steps to enable the feature:
1. Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
2. Locate and tap the “Sound & Haptics” settings option.
3. Now, scroll down to the “Cover to Mute” toggle and turn it on.
You can now simply cover the Apple Watch with your palm, and any incoming alert will automatically be muted. This is one of the easiest and most common ways to silence an Apple Watch in daily life.
How to Silence Your Apple Watch Using Theater Mode
The Theather mode on your Apple Watch, when turned on, silences your Apple Watch and keeps your watch’s screen dark until you press the Digital Crown or tap on the screen. Theater mode also disables the Walkie-Talkie and Raise Wrist to Wake Up Screen features, so it means no distractions of any kind. Here’s how you can activate the Theater Mode on your Apple Watch:
1. Swipe up on the watch face to reveal the Control Center.
2. Next, tap the “Face Masks” icon to turn on Theater Mode on your watch.
Turn On DND Mode to Silence Your Apple Watch
You can easily enable Do Not Disturb Mode on your iPhone, and it will automatically sync the DND setting to your Apple Watch. However, in case you don’t have your iPhone on you, it’s important to know how to turn on Do Not Disturb Mode from the Apple Watch itself.
We already have a detailed step-by-step guide on how to enable DND on Apple Watch, where we explain two methods for the same. Check it out via the linked guide. In brief, tap on the “moon icon” in the Control Center and select the “Do Not Disturb” focus mode to silence the Apple Watch.
Bonus: How to Silence Siri on Your Apple Watch
There are times when Siri on your Apple Watch simply refuses to stay quiet and randomly pops up on your Apple Watch with the slightest sounds, which can get annoying quickly. It is not uncommon for Siri to behave this way shortly after you update the watchOS version. And well, you should know that “Hey Siri” will work even after you enable silent mode on your Apple Watch. So, let’s learn how you can silence Siri on your Apple Watch here:
1. Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
2. Locate and tap the “Siri” settings option.
3. Now, toggle off the “Listen for Hey Siri” feature.
Note: Now, you need to press the Digital Crown to manually access Siri on your Apple Watch.
And that’s it. This is how you can mute your iWatch in multiple ways. Furthermore, we recommend checking out our Apple Watch tips and tricks guide, and learning how to use the Camera app on Apple Watch to leverage the full potential of this nifty feature.
Frequently Asked Questions
The haptic alerts on your Apple Watch are the taps and pulses you feel on your wrist every time a new notification or alert arrives to get your attention to the watch.
Open settings on Apple Watch -> Sound & Haptics -> Use the Volume Slider to increase or decrease the volume.
When activated, the silent mode on your Apple Watch silences all alerts and notifications sounds. But, remember that the silent mode does not silence alarms and timers.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone -> Scroll until you find the Phone tab -> Tap the Custom tab -> Turn off the Sound toggle under all the available sections.