How to Disable Activation Lock on Your Apple Watch

The idea behind the Apple Watch’s Activation Lock feature is to protect your watch and your data from thieves.

Nobody likes their property getting stolen including the Apple watch. However, it also important to always be ready for such occurrence. The Apple watch is an expensive and important piece and because of its ability to keep your data.  This makes it to be a device that most people can’t afford to lose.

It’s nice to know that Apple has included some tools to protect your iPhone and Apple Watch from getting into dubious hands. The Find My iPhone feature provides you with geolocation services for all your Apple devices and also gives you the ability to remotely wipe off your data. This means that you can delete all important files from your Apple device even when you are not with it.  The Find My iPhone service also works with the Activation Lock of your Apple watch and iPhone to prevent it from getting into wrong hands that will try to resell it.

What is Activation Lock?

As stated above,  one of the options of the Apple’s Find My iPhone service is the Activation Lock.  Its job is to lock your device and then request for your Apple ID before you can unlock or do anything to it. This means that if your Apple device gets stolen and they try to restore it to factory settings, they will need to disconnect it from your Apple ID.  And to disconnect it from your Apple account,  they will need to provide your Apple ID (username and password). It becomes useless.  

Apple introduced the Activation Lock with the new watchOS 2 which becomes automatically activated as soon as you start your Apple watch the first time.

Does my Apple Watch have Activation Lock enabled?

If your Apple Watch is running watchOS 2 or later, the Activation Lock feature will activate automatically when you set up your device watch,  you can do this by locating the Apple Watch app on your iPhone or you can visit iCloud.com.

How to check if Activation Lock is enabled on your iPhone

1. Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Click on My Watch tab.
3. Locate the icon for your Apple Watch and clicks on it.
4. Tap on the info button placed on the right of your Apple Watch.
5. Click on The Find My Apple Watch icon to start the Find My iPhone app. To confirm that the activation lock has been activated,  you will be able to view your Apple Watch in the Find My iPhone app.

How do I check if Activation Lock is enabled if I don’t have my iPhone?

If your watch’s iPhone is not with you,  you can know the status via iCloud.com.

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1. Visit icloud.com.
2. Provide your Apple ID details and Log in
3. Tap on the Find iPhone icon.
4. Tap on the Devices from the drop-down menu at the top of your screen.  
5. Locate your Apple Watch.

If you can find your Apple Watch on the list, then it means that the Activation Lock has been activated.

How do I turn on Activation Lock if I don’t have it enabled?

If you can’t find the Apple Watch in the Find my iPhone app, its either because you’ve not logged in to iCloud service on your watch or your Apple Watch is running watchOS 1.

How to add your Apple ID to your Apple Watch

1. You will first need to locate the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Click on the My Watch tab.
3. Tap on General.
4. Click on Apple ID.
5. Provide your Apple ID details to sign in.

How to disable Activation Lock

Maybe you want to sell your Apple Watch, or you want it to give to a friend or a family member, and you want to restore it to factory settings before giving it out. I will suggest that you make sure that you deactivate Activation Lock before giving it out.

How to disable Activation Lock from your iPhone

If you will like to deactivate the Activation Lock on your iPhone,  all you need to do is to disconnect it by unpairing your Apple Watch from the Watch app. The tips below will teach you how you can do this.  

How to disable Activation Lock remotely

It’s possible that you’ve already restored your iPhone that you paired your Apple watch with, or you’ve given it to a friend or relative already, you can still remotely deactivate the Activation Lock by going to iCloud.com.

1. Go to iCloud.com from your computer’s web browser to deactivate Activation Lock.
2. Enter your Apple ID details. ( username and password)
3. Tap on Settings.
4. Locate your Apple Watch on My Devices.
5. Click on the X beside your Apple Watch to disable it.
6. Click on Remove to complete the deactivation process.

Other questions about Activation Lock?

I will suggest that you check out this detailed support document from Apple, or you can share it with us in the comments.