But just like with any other modern electronic device, you’ll have to keep the Apple Watch battery charged to use the wearable companion. Let’s look at how to charge an Apple Watch, along with other power tips.
How Do You Charge an Apple Watch?
Any time you want to charge your Apple Watch, you can use the included charger provided by Apple.
First, make sure the USB charging cable is plugged into a power source—either a free USB port or the included wall charger. You’ll then remove the Watch from your wrist and place the charging disc on the back of the device.
The magnets in the disc and watch will gently align. You’ll hear a short chirp sound and a green lightning bolt symbol will appear on the front of the Watch to confirm that charging is occurring.
You obviously won’t be able to wear the Watch while charging, but the device is still fully operational. The lighting bolt icon will remain on screen to show that it’s charging properly.
The wireless charging on Apple Watch is simple to use and one of its best features. If you don’t like this default setup, you can also choose from a huge variety of third-party charging cables and stands. These will all juice up the Watch so that it’s ready to go in the morning.
How to Check Your Apple Watch Battery Percentage
According to Apple, the Watch’s battery on both the GPS and GPS + Cellular model is designed for up to 18 hours of regular use before needing a charge. That estimate includes a mix of different activities like a workout, music playback, and more.
The quickest way to check the battery life remaining on your Apple Watch is to slide up from anywhere on the screen to view the Control Center.
On many watch faces, you can add a complication to see the remaining battery life. For a dose of inspiration, take a look at some custom Apple Watch faces.
In case the battery is completely drained, a red Lighting bolt will appear on the screen, indicating that it’s time to attach the Watch to a charger.
Wondering how long it takes to charge an Apple Watch? You can charge a completely drained Watch to 80 percent capacity in about 90 minutes. It will go to a 100 percent charge at the two-hour mark.
Use Power Reserve on Apple Watch
There may be times where your Apple Watch battery is close to depleted. In these cases, the Power Reserve feature can help keep the device going for a bit longer and just focus on the most important part—the time.
While on Power Reserve, press the Side Button to see the time. All other features are disabled; your Watch won’t communicate with your iPhone at all.
Whenever the Apple Watch battery drops below 10 percent, a dialog box will allow you to turn on the feature. It can also automatically switch on if the battery life gets too low to show the display or power any other features.
You can also turn on Power Reserve at any time. Head to the Control Center and tap the battery percentage. Below the battery percentage, slide the Power Reserve button from right to left. You’ll then need to select Proceed.
At any time, you can turn off Power Reserve as long as there is enough battery life remaining. To do that, press and hold the Side Button until the Apple logo appears. You’ll then need to wait for the Apple Watch to restart.
How to Improve Apple Watch Battery Life
If you’re looking to stretch out the battery life of your Apple Watch, there are a few steps you can take to hopefully go two full days between charging.
To start, make sure your Apple Watch has the most up-to-date software. You can check by going to Settings > General > Software Update on the Watch.
Another important aspect to check is your screen brightness. The brighter the screen, the faster the battery drains. To modify that, go to Settings > Display & Brightness on your watch.
There are two other settings that can help you better make use of the watch screen and conserve battery power. Head to Settings > Wake Screen. If you’ve noticed that the Watch screen turns on too often when raising your wrist, disable Wake on Wrist Raise.
You can still move the Digital Crown or tap the screen to view the watch face. Further down in the same menu, in the On Tap section, make sure Wake for 15 Seconds is selected. That is the minimum time the Apple Watch screen stays on after the screen is active.
Starting with the Series 5 Watch, the always-on display shows a low-power version of your face after sleeping. While it’s a great feature, you can turn it off for possible additional power savings. You can do that by selecting Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On. On the next screen, toggle off the Always On button.
What If Your Apple Watch Won’t Charge?
There’s no need to worry if your Apple Watch isn’t charging. There are a few steps you can take to solve the problem.
First, try plugging in the charging cable to another free USB port or wall charger. If that doesn’t work, try an additional cable, if you have one handy.
Make sure you remote any plastic material from the charging disc. Also, be sure that the back of your Apple Watch and charger are both completely clean.
If there are still charging issues, you can force-restart the Watch by pressing the Side Button and Digital Crown at the same time for at least 10 seconds. Wait until the Apple logo appears and the Watch restarts, then try charging again.
Just to note, if your Apple Watch battery is severely depleted, you may need to wait a few minutes before the green lightning bolt appears on the screen.
Keeping Your Apple Watch Charged and Ready to Go
With just a little bit of work, you can keep your Apple Watch battery topped up and ready to use at a moment’s notice, so you can get the most out of the wearable device.
If you’re a new Watch user, make sure to also take a look at some great Apple Watch tips you might not know about.
