Unlocking your iPhone with an Apple Watch: What to do if it doesn’t work

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The ability to unlock our iPhone using the Apple Watch is especially useful when Face ID fails to recognize us for whatever reason (for example, due to clothing that covers part of our face). However, sometimes we may find that this system doesn’t work as expected. Fortunately, we can solve this problem by unlocking our iPhone again with Apple Watch in a matter of seconds.

Effective solutions for unlocking with Apple Watch
Before we dive into the solution, it’s important to remember that in order to use this feature, we need to have an iPhone X or later running iOS 14.5 or later, and an Apple Watch Series 3 or later running watchOS 7.4 or later. Additionally, both devices must be updated to the latest software version to avoid problems.

That said, if the unlocking system isn’t working, there are a few steps we can follow to fix it:

Verify that the Apple Watch is unlocked: It is crucial that our watch is unlocked. If we see a small blue lock at the top of the watch screen, we must enter our passcode to unlock it.
Activate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both devices: Make sure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled on both your iPhone and Apple Watch. This allows communication between the two devices to enable unlocking.
Use Airplane Mode as a quick fix: Activating and deactivating Airplane Mode on both devices can help reset the wireless connection and resolve any errors.
Reboot your devices: Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most effective. Restarting your iPhone and Apple Watch can resolve the issue.
If these steps don’t solve the problem, we can move on to more specific solutions:

Reactivate the “Unlock with Apple Watch” option: You may need to deactivate and reactivate this option on your iPhone. We’ll do this via Settings > Facial Codes and PINs.
Verify Wrist Detection on Apple Watch: It’s important to make sure that wrist detection is activated on your watch so that unlocking works properly. We can do this by tapping “Passcode” in the Watch app on iPhone. If we haven’t set any passcode yet, we tap on Turn on Passcode; otherwise, we simply activate (or deactivate and activate) the wrist detection.
Reset Face ID and network settings on iPhone: If the error persists, it may be useful to reset Face ID and network settings on iPhone. The former is done through Face ID settings and the latter through Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
Unpair and re-pair your Apple Watch: As a last resort, unpairing your Apple Watch from your iPhone and resetting it should fix the error for good.

While it’s rare for an Apple Watch to fail to unlock your iPhone, it’s useful to know that we have a variety of resources at our disposal to easily resolve any inconveniences that may arise. Keeping in mind what to do if one AirPod sounds louder than the other, these steps will help us make sure we’re able to take full advantage of this useful feature and make our iPhone experience as smooth and convenient as ever.