Every Apple Watch reset falls into one of three buckets, and picking the right one saves you from wiping data you didn't need to lose. A restart is a simple power cycle for sluggish behavior – nothing is erased. A force restart is the fix for a frozen or unresponsive screen when a normal restart won't go through – still nothing erased. A factory reset ("Erase All Content and Settings") wipes the watch clean, which you want before troubleshooting a persistent software bug or handing the watch to someone else. If you're selling or giving it away, there's one extra rule that trips people up: erasing alone is not enough – you have to unpair from your iPhone so the watch isn't locked to your account. This guide covers all of it, for every model from Series 1 through Series 11, the SE lineup, and every Ultra.
Restart (Soft Reset)
Use a restart when the watch is slow, an app keeps hanging, notifications stop arriving, or a feature acts up after an update. It clears temporary glitches and loses nothing – your data, faces, apps, and settings all stay put.
- Press and hold the side button (the flat button below the Digital Crown) until the sliders appear.
- Tap the Power Button in the top-right corner.
- Drag the Power Off slider to the right and wait for the screen to go dark.
- To turn it back on, press and hold the side button again until the Apple logo appears, then let go.
One catch: you can't restart the watch while it's on the charger. Take it off the charging puck first. If the display is frozen and won't respond to the side button at all, skip ahead to a force restart.
Force Restart (When the Screen Is Frozen)
A force restart is the tool for a watch that's genuinely stuck – a black screen that won't wake, a spinning progress wheel that never finishes, a face that won't respond to taps or the crown. It forces the hardware to reboot without touching any of your data. Think of it as pulling the plug and plugging back in.
- Press and hold both the side button and the Digital Crown at the same time.
- Keep holding for at least 10 seconds – longer than feels natural.
- Release both buttons the moment the Apple logo appears.
That's the entire procedure, and it is identical on every Apple Watch ever made. The button combination does not change between a Series 3, a Series 11, an SE, or an Ultra. It works the same whether or not the watch has cellular. Reserve it for when a normal restart isn't possible; if the watch still responds to touch, use the standard restart above instead. A force restart only reboots the watch, so it never erases your data – it's always safe to try when the watch is unresponsive.
Factory Reset: Erase All Content and Settings
A factory reset removes everything on the watch – data, settings, watch faces, installed apps, and Apple Pay cards – and returns it to how it looked out of the box. Reach for this when a restart and force restart haven't cured a deep software problem, or as the first half of preparing the watch for a new owner. There are two ways to do it, and both land in the same place.
From the Watch
This method works even if the watch isn't near your iPhone.
- Open the Settings app on the watch.
- Tap General.
- Tap Reset.
- Tap Erase All Content and Settings.
- Enter your passcode if prompted.
- If your watch has an active cellular plan, you'll be asked whether to keep it. Choose Erase All to remove the plan, or Erase All & Keep Plan if you're staying with the same carrier and account.
- Tap to confirm. The watch takes a few minutes to wipe, then reboots to the pairing screen.
From Your iPhone
If the watch is paired and nearby, you can trigger the same erase from the phone – handy when the watch's own screen is hard to navigate.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap the My Watch tab.
- Tap General.
- Tap Reset.
- Tap Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings and confirm.
The difference between the two is only convenience – the result is the same erased watch. The iPhone method needs the two devices paired and in range of each other; the on-watch method works standalone. Important: erasing by either route leaves the watch still linked to your Apple Account, which means it stays protected by Activation Lock. That's fine if you're keeping the watch. It's a problem if you're selling it – read on.
Unpairing to Sell or Give Away Your Watch
If the watch is leaving your hands, do not just erase it. Unpair it from your iPhone instead. Unpairing does three things a plain erase does not: it creates a fresh backup of the watch on your iPhone, it erases the watch, and – crucially – it turns off Activation Lock so the next owner can set it up as their own. A watch that's only been erased will demand your Apple Account password on the setup screen, leaving the buyer with an expensive paperweight.
- Keep the watch and iPhone close together.
- On the iPhone, open the Watch app and tap the My Watch tab.
- Tap All Watches at the top.
- Tap the info button (ⓘ) next to the watch you're removing.
- Tap Unpair Apple Watch.
- If the watch has cellular, choose whether to keep or remove the plan (remove it if you're selling).
- Enter your Apple Account password when asked – this is what disables Activation Lock.
- Tap to confirm. The app backs up the watch, then erases and unpairs it.
Because unpairing makes a backup automatically, you don't lose anything when you later pair a replacement watch – you'll restore that backup onto the new one.
Forgot Your Passcode?
A forgotten passcode locks you out of the erase menu, but there's a built-in recovery path. You can do it from the watch itself or from your iPhone.
From the watch:
- Put the watch on its charger and leave it there.
- Press and hold the side button until the Power Button appears in the top-right corner.
- Now press and hold the Digital Crown until Erase all content and settings appears.
- Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm.
- Wait for the wipe to finish, then set the watch up again and restore from a backup when prompted.
From your iPhone:
- Open the Watch app and tap My Watch.
- Tap General, then scroll down and tap Reset.
- Tap Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings and confirm.
One more thing worth knowing: if you have Erase Data switched on in the passcode settings, the watch wipes itself automatically after 10 failed passcode attempts.
Activation Lock and Find My
Activation Lock is Apple's anti-theft feature. When Find My is enabled on your watch – which it is by default whenever the watch is signed into your Apple Account – the watch is tied to that account at a level that survives a normal erase. That's exactly why an erased-but-not-unpaired watch still asks for your Apple Account password during setup. The lock exists so a stolen watch can't simply be wiped and resold.
The takeaway for selling: erasing the watch by itself does not clear Activation Lock. To remove it, either unpair through the paired iPhone (which handles the lock for you), or, if you no longer have that iPhone, sign in at iCloud.com, open Find Devices, select the watch, choose Erase, then select Remove This Device, confirming with your Apple Account password. Never buy a used Apple Watch that still shows a previous owner's account on the setup screen – and never sell one in that state.
Model-Specific Notes
The good news is that resetting works the same across the entire lineup. The side button plus Digital Crown combo for force restarts, and the Settings > General > Reset menu path, are identical on every model – Series 1 through the latest Apple Watch Series 11, every SE including the Apple Watch SE 3, and all Ultra models up to the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
A few genuine wrinkles:
- Ultra models add a third physical control, the orange Action button, on the left side. It has nothing to do with resets – ignore it entirely. Resets still use the side button and Digital Crown only.
- Cellular models (many GPS + Cellular Series watches and every Ultra) prompt you to keep or remove the mobile plan whenever you erase or unpair. Remove the plan if the watch is leaving you.
- Older watches on old software – a Series 3 running a very old watchOS could occasionally lack the free storage to complete an on-watch erase; if that ever happens, run the reset from the paired iPhone instead, which sidesteps the limitation.
Pre-Reset Checklist
Before you erase or unpair, run through this so nothing important is stranded:
- Charge both devices or keep them on power – a wipe interrupted by a dead battery is no fun.
- Let the watch sync. Health, activity, and workout data flows to the iPhone automatically; give it a few minutes of proximity to finish.
- Back up if selling. Unpairing backs up automatically, but confirm your iPhone itself is backed up to iCloud so that backup is preserved.
- Remove the cellular plan if the watch is leaving you, so you're not billed for a line you no longer use.
- Know your Apple Account password – you cannot clear Activation Lock without it.
What You Lose With Each Reset
- Restart and force restart: Nothing. These only reboot the watch. Every setting, face, app, and byte of data survives.
- Erase / unpair: Everything stored on the watch itself – settings, faces, apps, and Apple Pay cards – is wiped. But your health and fitness history is safe, because it syncs to the Health app on your iPhone and up to iCloud, not solely on the watch. A future watch inherits all of it when you restore a backup, along with settings like fall detection.
After the Reset
If you erased but kept the watch, it stays paired and simply reboots to your existing setup. If you unpaired, the watch shows its setup animation and you'll pair it fresh:
- Bring the watch near your iPhone and follow the on-screen pairing prompt, or open the Watch app and tap Add Watch.
- When asked, choose Restore from Backup and pick your most recent backup to bring settings, faces, and app layout back.
- Re-add your cards to Wallet – payment cards are removed on every erase for security and don't restore automatically.
- Re-activate cellular through the Watch app if you have a plan; your carrier walks you through re-adding the line.
- Expect the full setup wizard the first time – passcode, wrist preference, and feature opt-ins. Once it finishes, your watch is back to normal. If you're shopping for a replacement rather than restoring, our guide to the best smartwatches for iPhone is the place to start.