Learn what to do if you cannot unlock your iPhone with your Apple Watch when you’re wearing a mask, sunglasses, or big ski goggles.
Your Apple Watch can automatically unlock your iPhone, which removes the need to enter the iPhone passcode or use Face ID. However, if Apple Watch fails to unlock your iPhone, you’ll see errors like “Unable to Communicate with Apple Watch,” or you’ll stay stuck on the iPhone passcode screen for a few seconds.
The solutions below should fix these issues between your watch and iPhone.
1. Unlock iPhone with Apple Watch works only with mask or sunglasses
Your Apple Watch can unlock your Mac at all times. However, for Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone, your mouth and nose must be obstructed with something like a mask or your eyes must be blocked by sunglasses or a similar thing like ski goggles. So, if you hope your Apple Watch to unlock your iPhone kept on a table (away from your face), it won’t work.
2. Compatible devices and software versions
You can unlock your iPhone with your Apple Watch if you have:
- An iPhone with Face ID running iOS 14.5 or later. This means iPhones with Touch ID Home button aren’t supported.
- An Apple Watch Series 3 or later running watchOS 7.4 or later.
Pro Tip: On iPhone 12 or later, you can also ignore Unlock with Apple Watch and set up your iPhone to unlock with Face ID even when wearing a mask!
3. Update your iPhone
iPhone running iOS 15 has a bug where Apple Watch fails to unlock the device and shows an error saying “Unable to Communicate with Apple Watch.” Apple acknowledged the problem and fixed it in iOS 15.0.1. So, go to iPhone Settings > General > Software Update and make sure you’re running the latest version of iOS.
4. Make sure you’re wearing your unlocked Apple Watch
You must wear the Apple Watch on your wrist for it to unlock your iPhone. It can’t be left on a table.
Next, if you see a tiny lock icon on the top of the Apple Watch screen that means your Apple Watch is locked by a passcode. Simply press the Digital Crown and enter your Apple Watch passcode to unlock it. Now, Unlock with Apple Watch should work successfully.
Note: Apple Watch locks itself automatically when you take it off your wrist. You’ll have to enter the passcode once again after wearing it.
5. Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both devices
Your Apple Watch can unlock your iPhone by establishing a secure connection only when Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled on both devices. Thus, if your iPhone fails to unlock via the Apple Watch, go to iPhone Settings or Control Center and enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It’s ok if it isn’t connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Next, go to Apple Watch Settings to ensure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled.
6. Connect your iPhone and Apple Watch
Once you enable Bluetooth (and Wi-Fi) on your iPhone and Apple Watch, they connect automatically. To check, open Control Center on Apple Watch. Here if you see a tiny green iPhone icon, that means your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone. If you see a red iPhone icon, double-check Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Turning them off and back on will also help.
Must read: How to know whether your Apple Watch is connected to the internet or not
7. You’ll have to enter the passcode once
Your iPhone will ask you to manually enter the iPhone passcode after restarting it or unlocking the Apple Watch. Once you enter the passcode, Unlock with Apple Watch will work for all future unlocking attempts.
8. Enable and disable Airplane Mode
Turning on and off Airplane Mode disconnects radio signals like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This little trick refreshes the wireless protocols, usually fixing communication problems. You can toggle Airplane mode on and off from Control Center on iPhone and Apple Watch.
9. Restart both devices
If you haven’t restarted your iPhone or Apple Watch in a long time, temporary glitches may cause such inconveniences. To fix this, turn off both devices, wait for a minute, and turn them back on. After that, manually enter the passcode once on your iPhone and Apple Watch. Your Apple Watch should unlock your iPhone automatically from now on.
10. Disable and re-enable Unlock with Apple Watch
If your Apple Watch isn’t unlocking your iPhone even after fulfilling the above requirements, follow these steps to turn off this feature and turn it back on.
- Open iPhone Settings and tap Face ID & Passcode.
- Turn off Unlock with Apple Watch.
- Restart your iPhone.
- Go to iPhone Settings, tap Face ID & Passcode, and enable Unlock with Apple Watch once again.
11. Turn on passcode and wrist detection on Apple Watch
Your Apple Watch can unlock your iPhone only when you have set up a passcode on it and enabled wrist detection. The following steps will help confirm that.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap Passcode from the My Watch section.
- In case you have not set up a passcode, tap Turn Passcode On and do that.
- If it says Turn Passcode Off and Change Passcode, that means you have already fulfilled the condition. From the bottom, also make sure Wrist Detection is enabled. After that, tap Turn Passcode Off and enter the passcode on your Apple Watch to disable it. Next, tap Turn Passcode On and set it up again.
Tip: Some users have found success by turning off Unlock with iPhone.
12. Update your Apple Watch
If things are still not going well, update your Apple Watch from the device Settings. You can also go to the Watch app > General > Software Update to get the latest version of watchOS.
13. Reset iPhone Face ID
If things have still not worked out, you can consider this option.
- Open iPhone Settings and tap Face ID & Passcode.
- Tap Reset Face ID.
- Tap Set Up Face ID > Get Started and complete the process. This should fix the failing Unlock with Apple Watch issue.
14. Reset iPhone network settings
Apple Watch communicates with your iPhone via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to unlock it. If none of the above solutions fix the issue, reset your iPhone network settings.
15. Unpair and re-pair your Apple Watch
Are things still not in order? Unpair your Apple Watch and pair it again. This will make a backup of your Apple Watch and then erase it. After that, set up your Apple Watch again, and it should fix the ongoing issues related to unlocking your iPhone.
Check out next: All the ways to wake up, unlock, and lock your iPhone or iPad