Whether the Apple Watch is unresponsive or its apps are crashing repeatedly, a quick restart is the first thing you can try to resolve the issues. In cases where the normal restart doesn’t work, you can force restart the Apple Watch.
And, since the device has only two buttons; the Digital crown (knob) and the side button, the restarting process is pretty straightforward regardless of which Apple Watch series you have.
How to Restart Apple Watch?
Apple doesn’t recommend restarting the watch while it’s still charging as it could interrupt the update process and cause additional issues. Therefore, unplug your watch from the charging dock before you move on to the methods below.
To make it easier to press the buttons, you can consider taking off the Apple Watch.
Normal Restart
- Press the side button for a few seconds.
- For Apple Watch running watchOS 9, tap the Power button icon that shows up on the screen. If your watch has another version, skip directly to the next step.
- Slide the Power icon on the Power Off button towards the right side.
- Turn on the device again by pressing the side button and wait until the Apple logo shows up on the screen.
Force Restart
- Press and hold the Crown and Side buttons for about 20-30 seconds.
- Release when the screen turns black and you see the Apple logo on the screen.
