Removing previous owner's account from second-hand Apple Watch

The Apple Watch is still secured by Activation Lock. This is a security feature to prevent stolen devices being sold and successfully reactivated, so it can only be removed by the original owner.

How to remove Activation Lock - Apple Support

Unfortunately this is only part successful, and we often see posts from users who have purchased a stolen device and been ripped off. The usual marker for this is that the seller is now unreachable. Hopefully this is not so in your case and you have a seller who can be contacted and asked to clear the device from their Apple Account.

You cannot remove an account from the original owner. You only have 2 options:

• Contact the seller and ask them to remove it. Unfortunately you don't even know if the seller is the original owner and they may not be able to remove it either.
• Return the Watch. Not unusual for stolen devices to be sold and then the seller goes silent where you are unable to get a hold of them.

You may have learned a valuable lesson by never purchasing an apple device from a third party where you do not have the ability to return the item. Apple does not get involved in third party sales, so you are on your own. I think you would understand if your device was stolen, and you would not want someone else to be able to set it up as their own device. The original owner has complete control of their device and to sell it or give it away, they just need to remove it from their account. It really is a simple process and you surely would not want Apple to allow someone else to take over your device.

krasimira288 wrote:

Subject: Issue with Apple Watch – Unable to use the device as previous owner hasn’t removed their account

Dear Apple Support Team,

This is a user-to-user forum. Apple is not here, except to moderate it.

However, the information that Branta_uk and Mac Jim ID have given you is correct. Activation Lock is an anti-theft feature designed to protect the interests of the owner of an Apple device. If the previous owner voluntarily parted with the Apple Watch, they should have carried out the steps in this Support article:

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Apple Watch, or buy one from someone else - Apple Support

Then you would have an Apple Watch that you could set up properly as your own.

Could you please assist me in removing the previous owner’s account so that I can start using the watch?

You cannot bypass Activation Lock, we cannot bypass Activation Lock, and Apple will not. The only help that we can offer you is to suggest that you return the watch to the seller and ask them to either

• Prepare the watch properly for resale (see above Support article) and return it to you; or
• Refund your money

Unfortunately, in all too many cases, the seller suddenly disappears or stops responding to messages once they have the buyer's money.

The All Too Common SAD Reality of Buying a used iPad/iPhone - Apple Community (or Watch!)