Notifications on your Apple Watch

Customize when and how you get notifications on your Apple Watch, so you can respond right away or check at your convenience.

Where you'll see your notifications

Notifications go to either your Apple Watch or iPhone, but not both. Learn when a notification might appear on your iPhone, instead of your Apple Watch, below.

If your iPhone is unlocked, you'll get notifications on your iPhone instead of your Apple Watch.

If your iPhone is locked or asleep, you'll get notifications on your Apple Watch, unless your Apple Watch is locked with your passcode.

Some apps, such as the Noise app, are only on your Apple Watch. Notifications for these apps don't appear on your iPhone.

The red notification icon appears on your watch face when you get a notification. When you dismiss notifications on your Apple Watch, they're also dismissed from your iPhone.

See all your notifications

  1. Touch and hold the top of the watch face to open Notification Center. You can do this from any screen.
  2. Wait for Notification Center to show, then swipe down.
  3. To scroll, turn the Digital Crown or swipe up and down on the watch face.
  4. To read a notification, tap it. To read grouped notifications, tap a stack, then tap a notification.
  5. To delete a notification, swipe left, then tap the delete button.

You can hide the notification icon so it doesn't appear when you have unread notifications. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap Notifications, then turn off Notifications Indicator.

Clear all your notifications

You can clear all your notifications at once:

  1. Touch and hold the top of the watch face to open Notification Center.
  2. Turn the Digital Crown or swipe down on the watch face until you get to the top.
  3. Tap Clear All.

Manage notifications

Your Apple Watch notifications mirror your iPhone settings, but you can customize the settings for each app. In watchOS 5 and later, notifications can be organized by app and grouped in stacks in Notification Center. For example, all your activity notifications can appear in a stack. You can also choose whether or not you get alerts for notifications, so they appear silently or not at all.

How to change how you get notifications on your Apple Watch

  1. Touch and hold the top of the watch face.
  2. Wait for Notification Center to show, then swipe down.
  3. Swipe left on a notification, then tap the more button .
  4. If you don't want to hear sounds or haptic alerts for that app, tap Deliver Quietly. Notifications for that app go directly to Notification Center on both your Apple Watch and iPhone, instead of showing you a notification with a sound or haptic alert.
  5. If you don't want to get notifications for that app, tap Turn Off on Apple Watch.

To see or hear these notifications again, swipe left on a notification from the app, tap the more icon, then tap Deliver Prominently.

Customize your notification settings

  1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then tap the My Watch tab.
  2. Tap Notifications.
  3. Tap an app. Different apps have different options. To use the same notification settings on your Apple Watch and iPhone, tap Mirror my iPhone. Some apps allow you to customize your notifications. When you customize, you can choose from these options:
    • Allow Notifications: Notifications appear in Notification Center and your Apple Watch alerts you.
    • Send to Notification Center: Notifications are sent directly to Notification Center without your Apple Watch alerting you.
    • Notifications Off: The app sends no notifications.
  4. If you customize an app's notifications, you can also group notifications from that app. Tap Notification grouping, then choose an option: Off, Automatically, or By app.

If you can't customize an app, you can still turn off its notifications. Scroll down to the Mirror iPhone Alerts From section and turn off the setting next to the app.

Learn how to change audio settings for notifications.

Keep notifications private

When you raise your wrist to see a notification, you see a quick summary, then full details a few seconds later. Here's how to stop the full details from appearing in the notification:

  1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, then tap the My Watch tab.
  2. Tap Notifications, then turn on Notification Privacy.
  3. When you get a notification, tap it to see the full details.

Manage short look notifications

Whether your Apple Watch is locked or unlocked, you see short look notifications by default. A short look is a single screen that shows the notifying app's name and icon along with the notification title. You can choose to turn off short look notifications when Apple Watch is locked:

  1. Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
  2. Tap Notifications, then turn off Always Show Short Looks.

If you don't see notifications on your Apple Watch

When your devices disconnect, your notifications go to your iPhone instead of your Apple Watch. To check your connection, swipe up on the watch face to open Control Center. If your devices are disconnected, you might see the red iPhone icon, the red X icon, or the Wi-Fi icon. Try to connect your iPhone and Apple Watch.

When your Apple Watch locks or you turn on Do Not Disturb, your notifications go to your iPhone:

For third-party apps, notifications are delivered only if your paired iPhone is also connected to a network.

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