How to Pair Apple Watch to New Phone (Full Steps)

Moving an Apple Watch to a new iPhone means unpairing it from the old one and restoring it from a backup. Here are the steps, with screenshots of each screen.

By Daniel ShuttleworthAug 24, 2026

Here is how to pair Apple Watch to new phone. Unpair the watch from your old iPhone first: open the Apple Watch app, tap All Watches, tap the info button next to your watch, then tap Unpair Apple Watch. That backs the watch up on its way out. Then open the Apple Watch app on the new iPhone, tap Start Pairing, and choose Restore from Backup.

Written by

Daniel Shuttleworth

Editor · Sylvan Lake, Alberta

Daniel Shuttleworth studied Advanced Information Communication Technology and has spent more than 20 years working out why consumer tech misbehaves — from an Amiga 600 and a VHS deck through to whatever Xbox and Samsung shipped this year. He writes The Tech Cell from Sylvan Lake, Alberta, and checks every step against the vendor's current documentation before it goes out, because the menu that worked last spring has usually moved.

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How to Pair Apple Watch to New Phone (Full Steps)

Daniel Shuttleworth

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