How to pair Apple Watch with your new iPhone

September 16, 2022 Abraham Smith

Are you ready to switch from your Apple Watch Series 7 to the new Series 8 or SE? Or maybe you just need to transfer your existing Apple Watch to your new iPhone? Follow us to learn how to seamlessly pair a new or existing Apple Watch to iPhone without losing data — including a new process in iOS 16.

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

Read on to make sure your Apple Watch is secured and you’re ready to upgrade to your new one.

When you upgrade to a new iPhone 14 (or any other new model), you need to take care of it first.

Apple notes that these items aren’t included in Apple Watch backups: Bluetooth pairings, credit or debit cards used for Apple Pay, Apple Watch passcode, and messages.

How to pair Apple Watch with new iPhone

New in iOS 16 – automatic Apple Watch transfer

With iOS 16, you should see a fresh and seamless new process to move an existing Apple Watch from your old iPhone to your new one.

Be sure to set up your new iPhone and restore it from a backup or run the quick transfer option from your old iPhone
After setting up your new iPhone, make sure your Apple Watch is on your wrist (and the passcode has been entered).
Look for a message on your watch Pair watch with new iPhone?
Choose OK
You can keep your watch on your wrist during the transfer – even workouts/ring progress from earlier in the day will remain after the transfer

If you don’t see this process, follow these steps…

Pair the Apple Watch with the new iPhone

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

If you’re upgrading to a new iPhone, make sure you set it up first (restore from a fresh backup).
Open the Watch app on your new iPhone to start the pairing process (you can also add your new Apple Watch before removing your existing one: All Watches > Add Watch if you don’t see the auto pairing screen)
Turn on your Apple Watch and look for them mating bullet codefollow the instructions
If prompted, restore your new Apple Watch from a backup and select the latest one
If you don’t see an available backup from your last iPhone backup, follow the instructions below to force an Apple Watch backup

Pair the new Apple Watch with the new iPhone

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

open that Watch app on your iPhone
Tap All Clocks in the upper left corner
Choose add clock
Follow the instructions
You should see an option to restore the backup from your previous watch to your new watch

Force an Apple Watch backup

If you don’t see an available backup to restore, you may need to force a backup.

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

Keep your paired Apple Watch and old iPhone close together
open that Watch app on your iPhone
Beat All clocks Select your watch at the top, then tap the “i” on the right
Beat Unpair the Apple Watch (During the unpairing process, your Apple Watch will create a new backup on your iPhone)
Follow the instructions to unpair your current watch
Make a new backup of your old iPhone and restore this backup to your new iPhone
Open the Watch app on your new iPhone to start the pairing process of your new watch
Turn on your new Apple Watch and look for the pairing ball code, follow the instructions
If prompted, restore your new Apple Watch from a backup and select the latest one

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