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The newer models of Apple Watch should work perfectly without encountering any problems. But the older models that lack necessary updates will often become unresponsive and glitch from time to time. Restarting your Apple Watch is the ideal solution for these problems.
There are many more reasons why you might want to restart your Apple Watch. Maybe you need to reset some data or it is just a habit of yours to restart devices every now and then. Restarting your smartwatch is relatively easy and you will find out that the steps you need to take are simple and straightforward.
Apple has officially stated that the standard way of restarting your smartwatch is by turning it off and on again. However, you should not perform a restart if the device is updating its watchOS to a newer version. Only in extreme cases, you should proceed with performing a force restart if the gadget is not responding.
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Restart Your Apple Watch
Step
Press the side button
Press the side button until you see three different options on your screen. These options should be Power off, Medical ID and Emergency SOS. Apple considers them to be the most important, and they are effortless to access.
In case of an emergency, the simple press of a button will prompt you to a window where you can ask for help. Additionally, medical staff can access your medical documents without requiring you to unlock the watch.
Lastly, the Power off option is conveniently placed there to turn off or restart the watch.
Step
Swipe the slider
The Power off button is actually a slider. Swipe this slider to the right until the device completely turns off.
When the screen is completely dark, you have confirmation that the Apple Watch has turned off and is no longer active.
Step
Press and hold the side button
Once the device has fully turned off, you can hold the side button again.
Keep it pressed for at least 10 seconds or until you can see the Apple logo.
When the logo appears on the display, it means the watch is now powered on.
The restart process has been successfully completed and your device should be working perfectly again. Most performance issues can be solved by turning your device on and off again. This is because the RAM usage might affect the performance of your device and a restart will clean up the memory.
Some older models of Apple Watch will experience this issue more often. As time passes, they are getting older and the operating system slows down. In that case, consider upgrading to a newer model of a smartwatch as Apple releases one every year. Since 2015, they came out with a new model every year and currently the series 8, which has been released on 7th September 2022, is the newest model.
Force Restart Your Apple Watch
Step
How to Force Restart your Apple Watch
Press the side button and crown at the same time. This is the first step of the process and all you have to do is press these two buttons at the same time. If you are holding only one button, this method will not work and you need to make sure you are pressing both. Take the watch off your wrist and try to use both hands for this operation.
Step
Keep the buttons pressed for at least 10 seconds. After identifying the buttons, keep them pressed for 10 seconds. However, the restart will happen when the screen turns off and goes black. This is the indication that you no longer have to keep the buttons pressed. Sometimes it can happen before the 10 seconds mark while other times it will take more.
Step
Wait for the watch to turn back on. Regardless if you are a calm or impatient person, this process shouldn’t take long. Once the screen turned black after you pressed the buttons, the Apple Watch is now restarting. It will turn back on soon after and you can use the device again. Usually, this step takes less than one minute.
This process is different than the one where you reset the Apple Watch. There is no risk of losing your data from the device when you reset it, as this process only restarts the device. Some people would also appreciate the convenience of restarting the smartwatch by using their iPhones, but this feature is not available yet. The watch is considered to be a separate device and you have to restart it manually.
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