How to Unpair Apple Watch From Old Phone (Even Without It)
Unpairing is what removes Activation Lock and backs the watch up, so it is the step that matters before a watch or a phone changes hands. Here is the route with the old iPhone, and the two routes without it.
By Daniel ShuttleworthAug 25, 2026
Keep the watch and the old iPhone together, open the Apple Watch app, tap My Watch, then All Watches. Tap the info button beside the watch, tap Unpair Apple Watch, confirm, and enter your Apple Account password. That erases the watch, backs it up to the iPhone first, and switches off Activation Lock.
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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6 min read
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Menus move, settings get renamed and features quietly disappear. So each guide is written against the vendor's current documentation rather than from memory, and says plainly when a fix depends on your version.