- An Apple Watch has a battery life of approximately 18 hours before it requires charging.
- If your battery is draining quickly, there are a few tricks to drastically extend it.
- Battery-saving tips include reducing wake screen time, turning off push notifications, and updating your Apple Watch.
Advertisem*nt
Compared to other smartwatches, the Apple Watch does not have a particularly robust battery life.
An Apple Watch lasts for just 18 hours, which means you need to charge it daily. This typically involves charging it overnight, but if you're finding that your watch needs charging well before that, there are a few things you can do to save battery life and get more out of a single charge.
Advertisem*nt
How to extend battery life on an Apple Watch
Below, we've rounded up some simple, yet effective, methods to optimize your Apple Watch's battery life.
Advertisem*nt
Reduce the Wake Screen time
When you raise your wrist to see your watch or tap the screen, it "wakes" the display for a short period of time.
If you have the wake time set to 70 seconds, that will drain the battery quickly. You should set it to 15 seconds instead.
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Display & Brightness.
3. Tap Wake Duration, then Wake for 15 Seconds.
Advertisem*nt
Turn off Wake on Wrist Raise
When you turn off Wake on Wrist Raise, your watch will only wake the display when you tap the screen or turn the Digital Crown.
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Display & Brightness.
3. Tap the toggle next to Wake on Wrist Raise.
Advertisem*nt
Re-pair your Apple Watch and iPhone
If your battery is running out faster than it should, it's possible that there's something wrong with how your watch and phone are paired.
You can resolve a lot of issues by un-pairing your watch and then re-pairing it as a new watch, which should wipe out any of the corruption that caused the battery glitch.
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap All Watches at the top-left of the screen.
3. Tap the information button next to your Apple Watch.
4. Tap Unpair Apple Watch.
5. Re-pair your Apple Watch by following the steps in this article.
Advertisem*nt
Turn off some push notifications
Sending notifications to your watch can also seriously drain your battery. To extend battery life, you should only enable the most essential notifications.
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Notifications.
3. Go down the list of apps to turn notifications off for apps you use less frequently. Tap the toggles next to apps you don't want Apple Watch notifications for.
Advertisem*nt
Manually stop workouts at the end of an exercise routine
When the Apple Watch is on workout mode, it uses a little extra battery power, since it measures your heart rate continuously, instead of every few minutes.
If your watch doesn't realize your workout has ended, it can keep running at higher power longer than necessary. Therefore, it's a good idea to get in the habit of ending your workouts on your Apple Watch when you're finished.
1. Swipe right on the Workout screen.
2. Tap End.
Advertisem*nt
Turn off Background App Refresh
When Background App Refresh is on, apps can exchange data between the iPhone and Apple Watch, so they always have current data when needed.
This can affect battery life, so you can turn the feature off entirely, or select specific apps to turn off.
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap General.
3. Tap Background App Refresh.
4. Turn off the feature entirely by tapping the toggle next to Background App Refresh. To turn off the feature for specific apps, tap the toggle next to the respective app.
Advertisem*nt
Turn on Reduce Motion
This feature controls some graphical effects and animations which can drain your watch battery.
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Accessibility.
3. Tap Reduce Motion.
4. Tap the toggle next to Reduce Motion.
Advertisem*nt
Turn on Power Reserve
Turn on Power Reserve
When your iPhone battery is running low, Power Reserve lets you see the time––and only the time––by pressing the side button.
When Power Reserve is on, your iPhone and Apple Watch do not communicate with each other, and no other watch features are available.
But if all you need is the time, this will conserve your battery until you can charge your watch.
1. On your Apple Watch, swipe up to open the Control Center.
2. Tap the battery percentage.
3. Drag the power button across the Power Reserve slider, then tap Proceed to confirm.
Advertisem*nt
Turn off Hey Siri
When your watch display is on, it's listening for "Hey Siri" to activate Apple's personal digital assistant. It's convenient, but can be a battery drain. To disable Siri, follow these steps:
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap Siri.
3. In the Ask Siri section, tap the toggles next to the features you want to turn off, like Listen for "Hey Siri" and Raise to Speak.
Advertisem*nt
Delete apps you don't use anymore
Apps take up space, and if they're running in the background they can also be a drain on your Apple Watch's battery life. Getting rid of unused apps can save you battery life.
To delete apps on an Apple Watch:
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, scroll down to the Installed on Apple Watch section.
3. Tap on an app, then tap the slider next to Show App on Apple Watch to remove it.
Advertisem*nt
Update your Apple Watch
Battery issues may be resolved with a Software Update and fix other bugs, so it's always worth checking if there is a new one available. To update your Apple Watch:
1. Open the Watch app on iPhone.
2. In the My Watch tab, tap General.
3. Tap Software Update.
4. If there's an available update, tap Install Now.
Get your Apple Watch serviced
If you have tried all these tips and your Apple Watch is still unable to last all the way through the day, it's likely that there's a hardware problem with your Apple Watch — the battery may even be defective. Contact Apple customer support for servicing.
Abigail Abesamis Demarest is a contributing writer for Insider based in New York. She loves a good glazed donut and nerdy deep dives into the science of food and how it's made.
Dave Johnson
Freelance Writer
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
Advertisem*nt
