How to Unpair Apple Watch with or without iPhone

There is no denying the fact that Apple Watch is truly the most advanced smartwatch available in the market. But no matter how advanced the tech is, there comes a time when you want to replace it with a newer model, and in that case, the first thing you will need to do is unpair your existing Apple Watch from the paired iPhone or iPad. And we are here to help you with that. Here is how you can unpair Apple Watch with or without an iPhone.

Steps to Unpair Apple Watch Using iPhone or iPad

While resetting an Apple Watch is pretty straightforward, unpairing it is a little complicated as you won’t find the unpair button on the Watch app’s homepage itself. Here’s how you can unpair Apple Watch from your iPhone or iPad:

Note: We tested this feature on an Apple Watch SE running watchOS 9 and an iPhone running iOS 16.6. For this tutorial, we also installed iOS 17 beta and watchOS 10 beta on our devices, and the steps to unpair Apple Watch remain the same.

1. Open the Watch App on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Tap on “All Watches” at the top left corner of the screen and select your Apple Watch.

3. Tap the “i” (info) button next to the name of your Apple Watch.

4. Next, tap the “Unpair Apple Watch” button at the bottom of the screen.

5. Finally, select the “Unpair (Your Name) Apple Watch” option.

6. If you have a GPS + Cellular model, you will be asked to Keep or Remove your mobile plan. If you want to pair an Apple Watch with your iPhone again, then keep the mobile plan. Otherwise, remove the data plan.

7. Now, disable the Activation Lock by entering your Apple ID password and tap the Unpair button at the top right.

Now, the Apple Watch will begin backing up the latest data on your iPhone before unpairing and deleting all active Bluetooth pairings. At last, the Apple Watch is finally unpaired and restored to its factory setting. While you are here, check out how to restore Apple Watch using your iPhone.

Note: If you are using your Apple Watch with a transit card in the wallet app, Apple suggests removing the transit card from the Apple Watch before unpairing it.

Unpair and Erase Apple Watch without iPhone

While unpairing the Apple Watch using the Watch App makes the most sense as a ton of data needs to be backed up before unpairing, a situation can arrive where you don’t have the paired iPhone or have simply lost it. In that case, you can unpair your Apple Watch directly from the watch itself. But all the watch’s data will be lost forever. Below, I have detailed how to unpair Apple Watch without an iPhone or iPad.

1. Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.

2. Locate and move to General settings.

3. Here, scroll down until you find the Reset option and tap it.

4. Now, tap the Erase All Contents and Settings button and enter the Passcode if enabled.

5. If you have a GPS + Cellular model, you will be asked to keep or remove your plan. Tap the preferred option.

The Apple Watch will now start the unpairing and data restoring process. Once this process is finished, follow the steps below:

6. Go to iCloud.com (visit) and sign in with your Apple ID to disable the Activation Lock.

7. Click the Find My icon and enter your Apple ID Password if asked.

8. Here, click on All Devices and select your Apple Watch from the drop-down menu.

9. Here, click the Erase Apple Watch option.

10. Next, click Erase in the pop-up menu.

11. Now, enter your Apple ID password again.

11. You will then receive a notification with a verification code on your Apple Watch. Tap Allow.

12. Now, enter the received passcode on the iCloud website, and it will successfully remove the Activation Lock from the Apple Watch.

Frequently Asked Questions