How to Stop an iPhone from Relinking an Unpaired Apple Watch

You unpaired an Apple Watch, yet the iPhone still lists it, offers to pair it again, or pushes its old settings onto a new watch. Erasing the watch from its own Settings, or unpairing from only one side, leaves a pairing record and a backup on the iPhone and keeps the watch attached to your Apple Account. Clearing each of those places stops the relinking.

Unpair from the Watch app

Open the Watch app, tap My Watch, then tap the watch name at the top to see All Watches. Tap the info button next to the old watch and tap Unpair Apple Watch. Enter your Apple Account password when asked; that turns off Activation Lock. Keep the watch nearby if you still have it, and choose whether to keep or remove the cellular plan if it has one.

Forget it in Bluetooth

Open Settings, Bluetooth. Find the watch under My Devices, tap the info button, and tap Forget This Device. This removes the Bluetooth record that makes the iPhone keep spotting it.

Delete the leftover watch backup

Open Settings, General, iPhone Storage, scroll to Watch, and tap it. Unpairing creates a backup automatically, and a new watch offers to restore from it. Swipe left on the backup, or tap it and tap Delete, if you want the next watch set up fresh.

Remove the watch from your Apple Account

If the watch is lost, sold, or already erased, open Settings, tap your name, scroll to the device list, tap the watch, and tap Remove from Account. The same option is on account.apple.com under Devices, and in the Find My app under Devices once the watch is offline. This clears Activation Lock so the next owner can set it up.

Set the new watch up without the old backup

When pairing a new watch, choose Set Up as New Apple Watch instead of Restore from Backup. The iPhone then has no reason to bring the old configuration back.

If you plan to sell or give away the watch. Unpair it from the Watch app first, or remove it from your account. A watch reset alone does not remove it from the account, and Activation Lock keeps the next owner from activating it.

If the iPhone keeps offering to pair. That prompt appears whenever an unpaired watch nearby is in pairing mode. Power the old watch off, or finish pairing it with its new iPhone.