If you’re upgrading to a new Apple Watch, selling your current one or fixing software hiccups, you’ll likely need to disconnect from your iPhone. Apple calls this ageless; It’s a step that wipes your watch, breaks the connection to your phone and removes the activation key so the next person can use it. The good news is that the malfunction is specific whether you have your iPhone nearby or not. Here’s how it works, and why you might want to disconnect your watch in the first place.
How to uninstall Apple Watch using your iPhone
The easiest way to wake up your Apple Watch with your iPhone.
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Keep your iPhone and Apple Watch close.
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Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
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Navigate to My watch tab, then All watches up.
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Tap the information button next to the clock you want to disconnect.
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Choose Apple Watch Appleand select He is blind [your Apple Watch name].
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If you have a mobile phone model, choose whether to keep or delete your mobile phone plan. Remove when selling or removing the watch. Save if you plan to pair again later
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Enter your Apple account password when asked to turn lock on, then select He is blind.
Your iPhone will create a backup before erasing the clock. When setting up a new Apple watch, you can choose to restore from this backup and continue with your data and hard settings.
How to remove Apple Watch from your iPhone
If you don’t have your iPhone paired with you, you can still reset your Apple Watch directly. This will erase your data, but it won’t create a backup and the activation lock will remain, so keep that in mind if you want to save your data.
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On your Apple Watch, Open Settings.
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Select General, then scroll down and select Reset.
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Choose Clear all content and settings.
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Enter your passcode when you upgrade.
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Mobile models, choose whether to save or delete your plan.
Your watch will wipe itself and start over as if it were brand new.
Why you should disconnect your Apple Watch
There are several reasons you might want to get your Apple Watch. Maybe you’re upgrading to a new model and need a fresh start. Maybe you sell it internally, sell it or give it away. You may also need to disconnect your Watch when troubleshooting. Sometimes a clean reset is the easiest way to fix sync issues, missed notifications or fitness data that can’t be updated.
Whatever the reason, defaults keep your data safe, ensure backups are kept and disable activation lock. That last step is important because if you skip it, the next owner won’t be able to use the watch.
What happens to your data when you disconnect your Apple Watch?
When you don’t turn on your Apple watch using your iPhone, the watch creates a backup that includes app data, settings, and a lot of health and fitness information. This backup is stored on your iPhone and will transfer to iCloud if you have backups enabled. That makes it easy to restore everything to a new watch.
If you reset from the watch without your iPhone, a backup is not created. Your data will be erased and the watch will be wiped clean, but the activation lock remains.
Activity Lock is tied to your Apple account and helps keep your watch secure if it’s lost or stolen. It turns on automatically when you pair your watch with your iPhone. That’s why being blind is not like a simple reset. You need the Apple account and password associated with the watch to turn off activation lock.
