As a companion timepiece to your iPhone, the Apple Watch lets you stay up to date with notifications you never want to miss. Sadly, it can be frustrating if the watch is not getting alerts by means of sound and vibration.
In this article, I explain why your Apple Watch won’t show notifications, as well as what you can do to fix the problem.
Why is My Apple Watch Not Showing Notifications?
Your Apple Watch won’t receive notifications because Bluetooth is off, DND mode is active, airplane mode is on, or the watch and your iPhone are not in sync.
Additionally, you won’t get any alert if the Watch app doesn’t have the permission to send alerts to your Apple Watch.
How Do I Fix an Apple Watch That’s Not Getting Notifications?
To fix an Apple Watch that’s not getting sound and vibration alerts:
- Update to watchOS 11.
- Enable Bluetooth on iPhone and Apple Watch.
- Deactivate DND mode.
- Turn airplane mode off.
- Give apps permission to send notifications.
- Unpair and reconnect Apple Watch to iPhone.
- Factory reset your Apple Watch.
One of these solutions may be all you need to fix the Apple Watch problem. In some cases, though, you may need to fix multiple issues to get your smartwatch to receive notifications again.
1. Update to watchOS 11
To update your Apple Watch to watchOS 11:
- Charge your Apple Watch to at least 50%.
- Unplug the watch from the charger.
- Open Settings and tap General.
- Select Software Update.
- Download and install the latest watchOS version.
2. Enable Bluetooth on iPhone and Apple Watch
Your iPhone and Apple Watch need Bluetooth to communicate with each other. And Bluetooth has to be active on both device all the time for instant notifications.
To enable Bluetooth on your Apple Watch, press the Digital Crown and tap Settings. Scroll down, tap Bluetooth and toggle it on. For your iPhone, go to Settings, tap Bluetooth, and then toggle it on if it’s currently off.
3. Deactivate DND Mode
You won’t get notifications if the DND mode is active on your Apple Watch.
To put this into perspective, the “Do Not Disturb” feature prevents the display from lighting up, it silences all alerts except for alarms and heart rate metric, and it keeps Apple Watch from vibrating for calls and text messages.
You have to disable this feature to continue getting notifications.
- Press the Digital Crown to wake the watch screen.
- Check if there’s a crescent moon-like icon on the watch face.
- Swipe up on the screen to open Control Center.
- Tap the DND icon to deactivate.
4. Give Apps Permission to Send Notifications
The main reason why you’re not getting instant notifications from apps on your Apple Watch is that these apps don’t have the permission to mirror alerts from your iPhone to the watch.
To fix this:
- Open Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap Notifications under My Watch tab.
- Scroll down and find the list of apps in the mirror iPhone alerts from section.
- Turn on the toggle switch for the apps you want to get notifications from on your Apple Watch.
5. Factory Reset Your Apple Watch
First, backup your Apple Watch. This is important because you don’t want to lose any of your data and settings.
Second, press the Digital Crown, open Settings, and tap General. Select Reset under General and tap Erase All Content and Settings. Confirm that you want to factory reset your Apple Watch.
The last step is to set up your Apple Watch by pairing it with your iPhone.
Make sure you restore your Apple Watch from a backup so that you get your data and settings back instead of doing the setup from the ground up.
How Do I Customize Notifications on My Apple Watch?
How you manage notifications on your Apple Watch depends on what you would like to see. You have the option to:
- Allow Notifications: You get your iPhone notifications mirrored to your Apple Watch.
- Send to Notification Center: The Apple Watch directs all alerts to the Notification Center. However, you won’t get sound or vibration alert.
- Set Notifications Off: This option turns off all alerts, so you won’t get any on your Apple Watch.
- Allow Group Notifications: Choose this option if you would like to select apps from which you would like to get collective notifications.
