It has happened to all of us: you enter a passcode too many times and get locked out of the device. It has probably happened to your iPhone, but the same thing can happen to your great Apple Watch. If you try to enter the wrong passcode too many times, will You'll be locked out of your Apple Watch. But don't worry. You can reset your Apple Watch and start tracking your health and receiving notifications again in no time. And you won't lose all your data either!
Why did my Apple Watch get locked after too many passcode attempts?
The Apple Watch allows you five attempts to enter the passcode before it locks. It will lock for one minute before you can try again. After 60 seconds, you will get another chance. If the same thing happens, you are locked out for five minutes. The same thing continues for 15 minutes, then 60 minutes. If you try unsuccessfully to enter your passcode, you will eventually get the dreaded error message: “Too many passcode attempts. Reset Apple Watch and pair it again.”
This can happen more easily than you think. Imagine you have a curious toddler or a mischievous child who loves to press buttons. Perhaps your pet repeatedly walked across the screen when the clock fell on the living room floor. It's also entirely possible that you simply forgot the code. However it happened, don't worry, there's still hope!
What you need to know about resetting your Apple Watch
If you have locked your Apple Watch, you can use it again by resetting it. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, if you have Delete data When this feature is enabled, all data on your Apple Watch will be automatically erased after 10 failed passcode entry attempts. This feature, which remains in watchOS 10, is useful for security purposes in case your watch is ever lost or stolen. However, you must be careful never to enter the wrong passcode too many times to prevent this from happening accidentally.
Back up your Apple Watch regularly, as you'll need a saved backup to erase and reset your watch after you're locked out to preserve your data. Backups are performed automatically on a paired iPhone when it's nearby.
How to reset your Apple Watch after too many passcode attempts from the watch
1. Place the Apple Watch on the charger.
2. Hold the side button until the sliders appear on the screen.
3. Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see Delete all content and settings.
4. Knock Reset.
5. Choose Reset to confirm a second time.
6. Once the reset process is complete, you can set up your watch again the way you bought it. But this time, choose Restore from a backup to reload all your data.
How to reset Apple Watch from a paired iPhone
1. Open the Apple Watch App on your iPhone.
2. Select the My Watch tab if it is not already selected.
3. Choose Generally.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Reset.
5. Choose Delete Apple Watch content and settings.
6. Click Delete Apple Watch content and settings again to confirm.
7. If you have an Apple Watch model with cellular connectivity, you can keep or remove the cellular plan at this point. Keep it when you pair the watch with your phone again, or remove it if you want to pair it with a different device or cancel the subscription altogether. (This must be done through your carrier.)
8. Once the reset process is complete, set up the watch again as new and select Restore from a backup.
Avoid accidental resets if possible
Since unlocking your Apple Watch requires a full reset after too many passcode attempts, you should do everything you can to avoid the process altogether. Fortunately, you can choose to “Restore from Backup” during the reset process, so you don't have to start from scratch. The Apple Watch's data is automatically backed up to the paired iPhone when the devices are paired and in proximity to each other, so you shouldn't lose any important stats.
To prevent the failed passcode attempt warning from appearing at all, at least in cases where you can control it, keep your passcode as a backup in a safe place.