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.
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.
Note: The new Apple Watch Ultra will have up to 60 hours of battery life, a major improvement on past Apple Watch models.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Quick tip: To turn off Power Reserve, press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo. Wait for the device to restart, and recharge it first if necessary. For more information on charging your Apple Watch and how long it takes to fully charge, check out our article.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.