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Pairing watch to new iPhone 11

I don't have my old iPhone 7 which was originally paired with my Series 3 Apple Watch. It was set up to unlock only when I unlocked my iPhone. My watch still says I need to unlock iPhone to access. It obviously still thinks I have the old iPhone 7. I tried doing a hard reset but it still shows the screen asking to unlock phone. How do I get past this?

Posted on Aug 24, 2020 7:36 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 24, 2020 7:41 AM

  1. Put your watch on its charger and keep it there until you complete these steps.
  2. Press and hold the side button until you see Power Off.
  3. Firmly press the Power Off slider, then lift your finger. 
  4. Tap Erase all content and settings.
  5. Wait for the process to finish, then set up your Apple Watch again. When asked, restore from a backup.


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 24, 2020 7:41 AM in response to gacarter717

  1. Put your watch on its charger and keep it there until you complete these steps.
  2. Press and hold the side button until you see Power Off.
  3. Firmly press the Power Off slider, then lift your finger. 
  4. Tap Erase all content and settings.
  5. Wait for the process to finish, then set up your Apple Watch again. When asked, restore from a backup.


Aug 24, 2020 8:11 AM in response to anonyme4321

I went through the whole reset routine, it appeared to be erasing/resetting as it showed a spinning circle for about 20 minutes. Then it went back to showing the clock (with the wrong time) and the "unlock iPhone to use Apple Watch" screen. So I'm still stuck there after doing the routine you advised, which I also found in a help video last night.

Pairing watch to new iPhone 11

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