Forgot Apple Watch Passcode? Reset to Bypass “Too Many Passcode Attempts” Screen Now!

Help! I forgot my Apple watch passcode and it isn’t paired to my iPhone.

After entering too many incorrect passcode, I’m locked out of it. Now it says “Too Many Passcode Attempts – Reset Apple Watch and pair again.”

What should I do to get into my Apple watch? Any help would be much appreciated!

Have you tried to unlock your Apple Watch multiple times only for the passcode not to work? This can quickly result in your watch being locked.

Similarly, if you forgot Apple Watch passcode and had too many failed passcode attempts, you’ll be locked out.

Don’t worry, keep reading to find out our solutions.

How Many Attempts to Unlock an Apple Watch Before It Locks?

Just as an iPhone or iPad, when you forgot the passcode, you’ll have 10 failed passcode attempts to unlock your Apple Watch before it’s completely disabled.

After you have entered 10 wrong passcodes to unlock your Apple Watch, it will be locked. You’ll have to reset it to regain access to it.

It’s wise to write down all the possible passcodes and choose the 10 most possible passcodes from them to try.

Don’t worry if you’re locked out of your Apple Watch after too many passcode attempts, I’m going to show you how to reset your Apple Watch and pair again.

Part 1. Verified Solutions to “Forgot Apple Watch Passcode”

To make it as easy as possible for you to find the most relevant solutions, we’ve split our solutions into specific sections.

1If “Unlock with iPhone” is Enabled

Apple allows you to set a different passcode for your Apple watch & iPhone. You can unlock your Apple watch with your iPhone passcode even if the passcodes are different.

Unlock with iPhone Passcode

Please note that to use this method, you must ensure that:

1. Bluetooth is enabled on your Apple Watch
2. Your Apple Watch is nearby the paired iPhone
3. Unlock with iPhone option is enabled on both your iPhone & Apple watch

Follow these steps to unlock your Apple watch:

Step 1 – On your iPhone, unlock your iPhone with the passcode, or Touch ID or Face ID.

Step 2 – Then your Apple Watch will be unlocked at the same time. You’ll never see the “Too Many Passcode Attempts – Reset Apple Watch and pair again” message.

Then you just need to change the Apple watch passcode to a simple one.

2Forgot Apple watch Passcode but Have a Paired iPhone

The next choice will be resetting your Apple Watch.

Don’t worry about the data on your watch.

By default Apple Watches are automatically backed up to the paired iPhone before resetting so that you can restore a backup afterwards.

Reset Locked Apple Watch with Paired iPhone

Step 1 – Make sure your iPhone and Apple Watch are close together. Take your iPhone and launch the Apple Watch app.

Step 2 – Navigate to your watch’s main menu and tap General and then sroll down to tap Reset.

Step 3 – Tap on the Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings and tap Erase All Content and Settings for twice to confirm.

Step 4 – Wait several minutes until your Apple Watch has been reset and set it up from the factory state.

Note that if Erase Data is enabled and you incorrectly enter your passcode 10 times, your data will be wiped anyway.

This means no backup will be made.

How to Restore from a Backup

After following the steps above, you’ll probably want to restore the backup. Doing so is fairly straightforward:

Step 1 – Launch the Apple Watch app again and tap Start Pairing if you haven’t already paired your device after the hard reset.

Step 2 – Once you have paired the watch successfully, tap on the Restore from Backup feature.

Step 3 – Any of the Apple Watch backups that are stored on your iPhone will now be shown. Select the most recent backup that is listed, and it will be downloaded and restored.

This process is very similar to when you factory reset an iPhone and restore a backup, so it’s no surprise it’s as simple as this.

3Forgot Apple Watch Passcode but Don’t Have Paired iPhone

Perhaps you didn’t pair the watch with your iPhone in which case you’ll need a solution for forgot Apple Watch passcode without iPhone.

This also involves a hard reset so if you don’t have any backups available you’ll lose some data as a result.

Reset Locked Apple Watch with Charging Cable

Step 1 – Keep your watch on its charger until you complete the resetting.

Step 2 – Press and hold the lock button; release the button once the Power Off slider appears.

Step 3 – Instead of sliding the Power Off slider, press it and tap Erase All Content and Settings.

Step 4 – The factory reset will then commence. Once it is complete you can set up your Apple Watch again and if there’s a backup available, you can restore it.

Note that your Apple watch may be locked to Activation Lock after resetting. This way can’t remove Activation Lock.

4Forgot Apple Watch Passcode Unpaired & without Charging Cable

Don’t have a charging cable or the Apple Watch is unpaired with your iPhone? There is no way to get your device unlocked for this situation. You’d better get a charging cable since it’s not difficult for you.

Part 2. What to do if Your Watch is Locked by Activation Lock After Resetting

The above methods won’t work to remove Activation Lock.

You might encounter the Activation Lock after resetting your Apple watch.

This is a result of the Find My Apple Watch feature being enabled on your paired iPhone and it will prevent you from setting up the Apple Watch with a different iCloud account.

So, we’re going to show you how to remove Activation Lock on Apple Watch without Apple ID.

1Unpair it on iPhone

The first solution you can try is unpairing the Apple Watch from your iPhone. To do this, use the steps below:

Step 1 – Launch the Apple Watch app on the paired iPhone and go to My Watch.

Step 2 – Tap the watch you want to unpair and then on the small i icon.

Step 3 – Tap Unpair Apple Watch and confirm the change to finalise the unpair.

Step 4 – Enter your Apple ID password to disable the Activation Lock.

Most of the time this will get rid of the Activation Lock.

However, if the Apple watch hasn’t paired with your iPhone before, it won’t do the trick and you’ll need to go in another direction.

2Remove Apple Watch from iCloud

Thankfully the iCloud dashboard has a lot of purposes, including allowing you to remove devices that are linked to the account. Here’s what you have to do.

Step 1 – On a computer, go to iCloud.com and sign in with your iCloud account.

Step 2 – Go to the Find iPhone section and click All Devices, and select your Apple Watch.

Step 3 – Click on the Erase Apple Watch button and your watch will be factory reset.

Step 4 – Next, click the Remove from Account to remove the Apple Watch from your iCloud account.

Again, you’ll need to do a factory reset here and set up your Apple Watch from scratch. However, it will successfully get rid of the Activation Lock.

3Using an iCloud Unlock Service

If instead of forgot Apple Watch passcode you’re still limited by the Activation Lock, you can also try an iCloud unlock service.

These types of services have a lot to offer, especially if we take AppleiPhoneUnlock for example:

• Supports all Apple Watch models
• Permanently remove iCloud Activation Lock from Apple Watch
• All Apple Watch features will be available after unlocking
• The previous owner won’t be able to track the Apple Watch after unlocking
• Easy to unlock and only requires the IMEI/Serial number of the Apple Watch
• Reasonably priced and affordable service

In addition, most iCloud unlock services follow the same steps. Whatever service you decide to use, this is the process you can expect to follow:

Step 1 – Start by navigating to the service’s iCloud unlock page.

Step 2 – Find the IMEI or Serial number of your Apple Watch [1] and enter it.

Step 3 – Then click on Remove Activation Lock.

Step 4 – Next, you must pay for the service. After you submit your payment information the order will begin being processed and your Apple Watch will be unlocked in 24-72 hours.

Using an iCloud unlock service is preferable in cases such as when you have purchased a second-hand iOS device and don’t know the previous owner’s iCloud account information.

In this case, it’s useful even if the account belongs to you and you’ve simply forgotten the passcode.

Bonus: More about Apple Watch Passcode

1How to Prevent This from Happening Again

So, you forgot Apple Watch passcode without iPhone and successfully resolved the problem. What can you do to stop this from happening again in the future?

A few things come to mind.

For instance, using a memorable (but not easily guessable) passcode that you aren’t likely to forget will help a lot, as will creating a note on your iPhone which contains your Apple Watch’s passcode.

The latter means that if you do forget the passcode, you can find it out with ease.

2How to Add a Passcode After Resetting

After using any of our solutions you probably have to add a new passcode to your Apple Watch. You can do this relatively simply.

Step 1 – On the Apple Watch go to the Settings app.

Step 2 – Swipe down and tap on the Passcode option.

Step 3 – Tap on Turn Passcode On and enter a suitable four-digit passcode.

That’s all there is to it. Alternatively, you can use the Apple Watch application on your iPhone to enable the passcode on your Apple Watch. Either way will work.

3How to Change Passcode

If you want to switch your passcode to a different one, you’re also able to change an Apple Watch’s passcode.

Step 1 – On the Apple Watch open the Settings app.

Step 2 – Go to Passcode and select Change Passcode.

Step 3 – Type the passcode that you currently use.

Step 4 – Enter the passcode you want to change it to, then enter it again.

For those users who are forgetful and frequently don’t remember what they set their passcode to, it may be a good idea to change your passcode.

The Bottom Line

Hopefully, if you forgot Apple Watch passcode, and locked out of your Apple watch from the “Too Many Passcode Attempts – Reset Apple Watch and pair again” screen, these solutions and tips will help you get passed this incident.

For situations where the passcode is unknown, you can do a quick hard reset and regain access in no time at all.

But for instances where an iCloud Activation Lock is active, a lock removal service is exactly what you need.