iPhone Not Unlocking Your Apple Watch? Here’s How to Fix the Problem

On the Apple Watch, there is an option in watchOS that allows your iPhone to unlock your watch as long as the “iPhone” is unlocked (Settings -> Passcode -> Unlock with iPhone). Enabling this option means you don’t have to enter a passcode twice in the morning – one on your Apple Watch when you put it on your wrist, and one on your “iPhone” when you unlock it for the first time.

However, we’ve heard reports that the “Unlock with ‌iPhone‌” feature has stopped working for some people since at least iOS 14.7. Apple was aware enough of the same issue on iPhones with Touch ID to issue a fix with the release of iOS 14.7.1, but it appears Face ID-equipped iPhones are also affected, and iOS 14.7.1 does nothing to fix it to solve it. If you have a Face ID “iPhone” and the “iPhone” unlock feature isn’t working on your Apple Watch, here are some possible solutions.

Disable unlock iPhone with Apple Watch

Perhaps confusingly, some users have found that disabling the “Unlock with Apple Watch” feature on the “iPhone” somehow returns the functionality of the “Unlock with iPhone” switch on the Apple Watch.

1. On your ‌iPhone‌, launch the settings apartment
2. Beat Face ID and Passcode.
3. Under Unlock with Apple Watch, toggle the switch next to your Apple Watch’s name so that it’s in the gray OFF position.

Of course, this is more of a workaround than a solution, as you’re disabling one feature to revive another, so you’ll have to weigh up whether the trade-off is worth it in your particular use case.

If you often rely on the “Unlock with Apple Watch” feature to access your “iPhone” when wearing a face mask, then the workaround won’t work for you, in this case…

Unpair and pair your Apple Watch again

Unpairing Apple Watch from ‌iPhone‌ has worked for some people suffering from the issue. It’ll take a while, but if you’re missing the Unlock with ‌iPhone‌ feature on your Apple Watch, it’ll probably be worth the effort.

1. Bring your ‌iPhone‌ and Apple Watch close together, then open the watch App on your ‌iPhone‌.
2. In which My clock tab, tap All clocks.
3. Tap the the information (i) Button next to the watch you want to unpair.
4. Beat Unpair the Apple Watch. (On models with GPS + cellular, you can keep your cellular plan.)
5. Tap again to confirm. You may need to enter your Apple ID password to turn off Activation Lock.

Before you delete all content and settings on your Apple Watch, your “iPhone” creates a new backup of your Apple Watch. You can use the backup to restore a new Apple Watch. After your Apple Watch has been unpaired, you will see the message Start pairing. You can then pair your watch with your “iPhone” again as normal.

1. Hold down the side button on your Apple Watch until you see the Apple logo.
2. Wait for the “Use your ‌iPhone‌ to set up this Apple Watch” message to appear on your ‌iPhone‌, then tap Continue. If you don’t see this message, open the watch App on your “iPhone” tap All clocksthen tap Pair new watch.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to pair your watch again.

Note that some users who have re-paired their Apple Watch with their “iPhone” have found that while they fixed the issue, they no longer received a notification on their “iPhone” that their Apple Watch was unlocked, which suggests that Apple has some work to do to ensure everything is thoroughly nix Bug affects this behavior.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, neither the workaround nor the solution (assuming it works for you) is ideal, but at the time of writing there doesn’t seem to be any other way to get Unlock With ‌iPhone‌ working properly again. On the plus side, Apple is aware of the issue and we should see a fix in the next iOS 14 software update or with the release of iOS 15 in September.