How to Unpair Your Apple Watch From Your iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide to Reap the Benefits

Knowing not only how to pair, but also to unpair your Apple Watch from the iPhone has more use cases than you think.

Sareena Dayaram Senior Editor

Sareena is a senior editor for CNET covering the mobile beat including device reviews. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with more than a decade's worth of experience producing stories for television and digital publications across Asia's financial capitals including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Mumbai. Prior to CNET, Sareena worked at CNN as a news writer and Reuters as a producer.

Expertise Huawei | Oppo | Smartphones | Smartwatches Credentials

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Sareena Dayaram

Dec. 20, 2023 5:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

An Apple Watch Series 5 sits on a desk next to an iPhone with the fitness numbers it recorded: a "move" score of 15,222 calories (out of a 690 calorie daily goal) and 721 exercise minutes (out of a 30 minute daily goal). — David Lumb / CNET

Many of us might know how to pair our Apple Watch to our iPhone like the back of our hand (no pun intended), but knowing how to unpair your Apple Watch can also be useful.

There are several reasons why you might want to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone. If you plan to give away or sell your Apple Watch, you'll need to unpair it, but even if you plan to upgrade to a new iPhone or switch to a different device, unpairing can help ensure a seamless connection with your new device.

Alternatively, if you experience connectivity issues between your watch and iPhone, sometimes the solution can be unpairing and then promptly pairing it again. For those who don't use their Apple Watch regularly, unpairing it can also help maximize battery life and protect your data, if you don't use your Apple Watch regularly.

It's worth knowing that before the grand unpairing, your iPhone will create a backup of your Apple Watch, which you can use to restore a future Apple Watch.

Here's our step-by-step guide on how to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone.

1. Keep your Apple Watch and iPhone close together as you unpair them.

2. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

3. Go to the My Watch tab within the app.

4. Tap All Watches to see the list of paired watches.

5. Select the watch you want to unpair then tap the Info button next to it (i)

6. Tap Unpair Apple Watch.

7. Tap Unpair [your Apple Watch name].

8. For GPS + Cellular models, choose whether to keep or remove your cellular plan. If you want to pair your Apple Watch and iPhone again, keep your plan. If you don't want to pair your Apple Watch and iPhone again, remove your plan.

9. Type your Apple ID password to disable Activation Lock, then tap Unpair.

10. After your Apple Watch unpairs, you'll see the Start Pairing message. Now you can set up your Apple Watch again or turn it off if you're selling it or giving it away.

Bonus Tip: If you've misplaced your iPhone and can't unpair it, don't panic. On your Apple Watch, tap Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

If you enjoyed this tip, learn how to change a few settings on your Apple Watch that amount to a big difference in real life.