How do you set up a new apple watch

Wondering how to set up your Apple Watch? Even if you've already taken your new smartwatch out of the box, you won't get to answer texts or talk to Siri on your wrist until you set up your Apple Watch properly. 

There's many reasons the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch you can buy. It's a great fitness tracker and communications device for everyday use. It's also excellent for safety, packed with features for all kinds of scenarios. 

Whether you just got Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE (2022) or even the new Apple Watch Ultra, you can expect an easy user experience. But you'll need to know how to set up your Apple Watch get it working how you like.

Here's how to get your Apple Watch up and running in a few easy steps.

How to set up your Apple Watch

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

2. Select Start Pairing. 

3. Pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone. Hold the watch up to your phone's camera, so that it can see the pattern on the watch. Alternatively, you can select "Pair Apple Watch Manually" and tap the watch's name in the Apple Watch app; you'll then be prompted to enter a 6-digit code that appears on the watch.

4. In the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, select "Set Up as New Apple Watch."

5. Choose your wrist preference — left or right. You'll also be asked to pick which side you want the digital crown to be on.

6. On the Terms and Conditions page, select Agree.

7. Enter your Apple ID.

8. When prompted about Location Services, Siri and Diagnostics, select OK.

9. Create a 4-digit passcode for your watch.

10. Choose whether or not you want to unlock the Apple Watch with your iPhone. Select Yes or No on your watch's display.

11. Set up Apple Pay and Emergency SOS (optional). Apple Pay lets you use your watch to make mobile payments while Emergency SOS is a new feature in watchOS 3 that lets you call emergency services and send an alert to specified contacts. You can bypass this step and set up these services later.

12. Install apps on your Apple Watch. When prompted, select Install All to start downloading available Apple Watch versions of the apps already on you iPhone immediately, or Choose Later to pick your own. 

13. Your Apple Watch will now start syncing with your iPhone. Once you're notified that syncing is complete, you're good to go.

MORE: For additional tips, tricks, and how-tos, be sure to check out our complete Apple Watch Guide. If you'd like to read tutorials for other smart watches, check out how to set up a Google Pixel Watch and how to set up a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

Ready to switch from your Apple Watch Series 7 to the new Series 8, Ultra, or SE? Or maybe you just need to transfer your existing Apple Watch with your new iPhone? Follow along for how to seamlessly pair a new or existing Apple Watch with iPhone without losing data – including a new process in iOS 16.

Apple Watch backups happen automatically and are saved on the iPhone your Apple Watch is paired with. However, there’s no place in Settings to manually back up your Apple Watch or see when the last automatic backup was.

Read on for how to make sure your Apple Watch is backed up and you’re all set to upgrade to your new one.

If you’re upgrading to a new iPhone 14 (or any other new model), you’ll need to take care of that first.

• How to upgrade to your iPhone 14 without losing data

Apple notes that these items are not included with Apple Watch backups: Bluetooth pairings, credit or debit cards used for Apple Pay, Apple Watch passcode, and Messages.

How to pair Apple Watch with a new iPhone

New with iOS 16 – automatic transfer for existing Apple Watch

A fresh and seamless new process should show up with iOS 16 to move an existing Apple Watch from your old iPhone to your new one.

1. Make sure to set up your new iPhone and restore with a backup or complete the Quick Transfer option from your old iPhone
2. After setting up your new iPhone, make sure your Apple Watch is on your wrist (and passcode entered)
3. Look for a message on your watch to Pair Watch with new iPhone?
4. Choose OK
5. You can leave your watch on your wrist as the transfer happens – even workouts/Ring progress from earlier in the day remains after transfer

If this process doesn’t show up for you, follow the steps below…

 Use an Apple Watch backup to pair a new or existing watch

1. If you’re upgrading to a new iPhone, make sure to set that up first (restore from fresh backup)
2. Open the Watch app on your new iPhone to start the pairing process (you can choose to add your new Apple Watch before removing your existing one too: All Watches > Add Watch if the auto pair screen doesn’t pop up)
3. Power on your Apple Watch and look for the pairing sphere code, follow the prompts
4. When asked, choose to restore your new Apple Watch from a backup and choose the most recent one
5. If you’re not seeing a backup available from your most recent iPhone backup, follow along below for how to force an Apple Watch backup

Pair new Apple Watch with new iPhone

If you need or want to pair a new Apple Watch with your iPhone or pair an existing watch as a new one:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone
2. Tap All Watches in the top left corner
3. Choose Add Watch
4. Follow the prompts
5. You should see an option to restore the backup from your previous watch to your new watch

Force an Apple Watch backup

If you’re not seeing an available backup to restore, you might need to force a backup.

Since Apple Watch backups don’t happen with every iCloud or Mac/PC backup with your iPhone, this is how Apple says to do force them:

1. Keep your paired Apple Watch and old iPhone close together
2. Open the Watch app on your iPhone
3. Tap All Watches at the top, pick your watch, then tap the “i” on the right side
4. Tap Unpair Apple Watch (during the unpairing process your Apple Watch will do a fresh backup to your iPhone)
5. Follow the prompts to unpair your current Watch
6. Make a fresh backup of your old iPhone, restore that backup to your new iPhone
7. Open the Watch app on your new iPhone to start the pairing process of your new Watch
8. Power on your new Apple Watch and look for the pairing sphere code, follow the prompts
9. When asked, choose to restore your new Apple Watch from a backup and choose the most recent one

Read more 9to5Mac tutorials:

• Apple Watch: How to see your detailed heart rate history
• Do’s and don’ts for cleaning your dirty iPhone (and why you should make it a habit)
• How to turn on end-to-end encryption for iMessage, iCloud, iPhone backups
• Here’s how to get 60-hour battery with Apple Watch Ultra

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Guides

Apple Watch

Apple Watch is Apple's wearable is designed to help you stay active, motivated, and connected. It runs watchOS, and it comes in 40mm and 44mm size options.

iPhone

Introduced in 2007 by Steve Jobs, iPhone is Apple's flagship iOS device and easily its most popular product around the world. The iPhone runs iOS and includes a large collection of mobile apps through the App Store.

How-to

About the Author

Michael Potuck

@michaelpotuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.

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