How to Lock an Apple Watch
Jul. 15, 2024If you’ve just bought an Apple smartwatch, you might be thinking about how to lock and unlock an Apple Watch. Since it’s a wearable, anApple Watchwill be strapped to your wrist most of the time. That said, you must know how to lock an Apple Watch to prevent strangers, toddlers, and even water from accessing your smartwatch. Depending on your requirements, you can choose to lock your Apple Watch automatically when you aren’t wearing it, or take control in your hands and lock your smartwatch manually. We’ll discuss both ways in this article. Without any ado, let’s get started.
Lock Apple Watch Automatically
The best way to secure an Apple Watch is to enable Wrist Detection on your smartwatch. The original Apple Watch had a manual lock option. In the later models, Apple replaced it with the Wrist Detection feature. When you enable this feature, your smartwatch locks automatically when you’re not wearing or looking at it. This will keep all your information safe, bringing up the screen contents only when you purposely look up to your smartwatch.
On Apple Watch
On iPhone
You can also enable Wrist Detection from theWatch app on your iPhone.Here’s how to do it:
To lock your Apple Watch manually, you have to set a passcode. When you set up your Apple Watch, you’re prompted to set a passcode. If you’ve bypassed this step, you can always do it later on your Apple Watch or paired iPhone using the Watch app. Here’s how to do it:
On Apple Watch
On iPhone
If you’ve initially created a four-digit passcode for your Apple Watch, but now want to switch to a more secure passcode, you can do it using your iPhone. Here’s what you need to do:
You can also choose to lock the screen on your Apple Watch manually. In order to do this, you need to first disable Wrist Detection for your Apple Watch. For this, go toSettings>Passcodeand turn off theWrist Detectiontoggle on your Apple Watch. You can also do this using the Watch app on an iPhone by heading over toPasscodeand turning off theWrist Detectiontoggle.
Remember, when you disable Wrist Detection, the following Apple Watch features are affected:
With Wrist Detection now disabled, you can press theSide buttontoopen the Control Center on your Apple Watch. Then, tap on thelock iconto secure your watch.
When you lock your smartwatch manually, you have to unlock it manually by entering the passcode.
You can also choose to lock your Apple Watch while swimming, taking a shower, or going for water sports. With watchOS 5 or later,Apple Watch offers water protection, so the water can’t activate your screen and cause any inconveniences. The Water Lock feature not only locks your Apple Watch, it also pushes water out of the speaker holes to prevent any water damage.
When you select any water activity in the Workout app, your watch automatically enables the Water Lock feature to shut the screen and avoid any accidental taps. On the Apple Watch Ultra, the Water Lock is automatically turned on when the smartwatch is submerged to a depth of 10 meters or lower. Once you’re done with your activity, press & hold theDigital Crownto clear water from your Apple Watch. You’ll hear a series of tones as water is cleared out of the speaker.
Here’s how to manually turn on Water Lock on Apple Watch:
That’s how you can lock the screen on your Apple Watch to keep it safe from prying eyes, clever kids, and potential water damage. In case you have any doubts, feel free to reach out to us in the comments below.
