{Solved} – WHY! My Apple watch won’t turn on – how to fix it?

Apple Watch not turning on? – Here’re 5 Best solutions.

Apple watch won’t turn on – how to fix?

Apple Watch users are at times posing the question – what to do if my Apple watch won’t turn on even after repeated screen tapping and button pressing? Since it is not difficult to resolve most of the causes for which your Apple watch will not turn on, you do not need to panic if you fail to activate your watch and the screen of your watch stays black. In this article, I am going to show how you can fix this problem and get your Apple watch to work again. But before that first you need to understand what might be the cause of your Apple watch not turning on

Why my Apple Watch will not turn on?

Here’re some of the most common causes why your Apple Watch won’t turn on.

1. Drained battery;

2. Faulty charger;

3. Damaged charging cable;

4. Power Reserve mode is ‘on’;

5. Screen Curtain is ‘on’;

6. Frozen operating system;

7. Software issue;

8. Hardware issue

What to do when my Apple Watch won’t turn on?

Now that you know some of the possible causes as to why your Apple watch not turning on, you can try the following fixes before you contact Apple support.

1. Force Restart Your Apple Watch

When the display of your Apple watch goes dark and the watch becomes unresponsive and fails to turn on, the very first thing you should try to do is to perform a forced restart of the watch, unless the battery is drained out. Since force rebooting of the watch stops all processes in the device, it resolves  most of the minor glitches like crashed software, frozen operating system etc. which may be hindering your Apple Watch from turning on.

To force restart your watch when it is unresponsive follow the steps below:

i. Press and hold the Digital Crown and the Side Button (below the Digital Crown) at the same time for 10 to 15 seconds or until you see the Apple logo on the screen. Appearance of Apple logo means the watch is restarting;
ii. Release both buttons when the Apple logo appears on your watch;

2. Charge your Apple Watch and check the charging cable

When you see your Apple watch not turning on the most common reason usually is that – its battery has run too low. If your watch is unresponsive due to drained battery, put the device on a charger and let it charge for some time. Once your watch has got enough charge it should boot up automatically.

In case it still fails to turn on, then the charging cable needs to be checked. It’s possible that a damaged charging cable is causing the problem you’re experiencing. Therefore, try using a different charging cable to see if the Apple Watch can be turned on.

3. Turn off ‘VoiceOver’ and ‘Screen Curtain’ features

Screen Curtain is a feature on Apple watch which is useful for visually impaired individuals. When this feature is enabled, the device is operated by sound using the ‘VoiceOver’ feature rather than by sight. This feature turns the screen of the Apple watch all black even when the watch is turned on and there will be nothing visible on the display.

If your watch screen turns black, make sure to disable ‘VoiceOver’ and ‘Screen Curtain’ features so that the screen is not turned off which can make you think that the Apple Watch is unresponsive. To turn off these features open the ‘Watch’ App on your iPhone and navigate to,

General > Accessibility > turn off VoiceOver > turn off Screen Curtain;

4. Turn off Power Reserve mode

The purpose of the Power reserve mode is to extend the battery life of the watch by disabling most of its features. When your watch is in power reserve mode, it shuts down almost all functions and the screen automatically goes dark. When this happens it may seem like your Apple watch refuses to turn on, which is actually not the case.

To exit this mode, press and hold the Digital Crown and the Side Button under it simultaneously, until the Apple logo appears. This will restart your Apple Watch and turn off the power reserve mode.

5. Erase Your Apple Watch and Pair it again with your iPhone

As a last resort, to resolve the ‘Apple watch won’t turn on’ issue erase your watch, which is found to fix many complex issues. If the watch is not responding or the display is dead due to some software bug, the same is usually fixed when you reset Apple Watch. To reset Apple Watch,

Go to the ‘Watch’ app on your iPhone > General > tap on Reset > tap on Erase All Content and Settings;

Once you have successfully erased the watch, pair it again with your iPhone and get your watch working again.

Now that I have explained the best solutions when your Apple Watch will not turn on let me also address some of the related queries made by the Apple Watch users.

Why is my Apple Watch not turning on  after charging?

One of the common reasons why your Apple Watch won’t turn after charging is that – the battery might have run too low or drained out completely and the battery has not been sufficiently charged. Your watch, therefore, needs to be charged for quite some time. Once the watch has got enough charge, it should boot up automatically.

Why my Apple Watch won’t force restart

The main reasons why your Apple Watch won’t force restart are,

1. It has frozen, and is therefore completely unresponsive;

2. It is in Power Reserve mode;

3, Maybe it has run out of battery life and is not charging;

4. There may be some hardware issue;

How to hard reset an Apple Watch

To hard reset your Apple Watch,

1. Press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds;

2. Release both buttons when you see the Apple logo on the screen;

You might also like to read this related post: {NEW Latest} Apple Watch iCloud Unlock Tool S1, S2, S3 devices 2021-2022

Conclusion

If you try all the above solutions against the query – what to do if my Apple Watch won’t turn on, you should get your watch working again in most cases.

However, in rare case if you see your Apple Watch not turning on even after trying the above fixes then there might be some hardware issues that you can’t fix on your own. In that case the best option for you is to contact Apple support or to take your Apple Watch to a trusted repair center for professional help to diagnose and fix the problem.

If you have come across any of the listed issues with your Apple Watch, it would be appreciated if you can please share in the comments section below, how you resolved the issue.