How to Fix Apple Watch Not Getting Notifications Issue

The Apple Watch is pretty great, it lets you stay updated on your notifications, keeps a track of your workouts and can also help track your sleep. It’s basically a seamless companion to your iPhone, and of course, there’s the perpetually useful Mac unlock with Apple Watch. Through all that, mirroring notifications is one of the primary reasons to have an Apple Watch, and when that doesn’t work it can be quite frustrating. If you’re facing this issue as well, read on as we explain how to fix Apple Watch not getting notifications.

Fix Apple Watch Not Showing Notifications Issue

Important Things You Need to Know About How Notifications Work on Apple Watch

When it comes to notifications, Apple Watch and iPhone smartly cover up each other. Hence, you must know how notifications work between these devices before trying to look for the ways to resolve the issues. Else, you may keep wondering why the alerts don’t show up on your watchOS device.

Note that notifications either show up on your Apple Watch or the paired iPhone. Yes, you read that right! Alerts never appear on both devices. When your paired iPhone is unlocked, you will get alerts on your iPhone instead of the Apple Watch.

And if your iPhone is locked or asleep, your notifications will appear on the Apple Watch, unless the watch is locked. Keep in mind that if an app (i.e Noise app) is available only on the Apple Watch, its notifications won’t appear on the iPhone.

When a notification arrives on the Apple Watch, you should see the red notification icon/indicator at the top center of the watch. If you dismiss alerts on your Apple Watch, they are also dismissed from your connected iPhone.

You can check all of your notifications from the Notification Center. Simply, swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Notification Center. Then, you can either use the Digital Crown or your finger to scroll through your notifications.

11 Ways to Fix ‘Apple Watch Not Getting Notifications’ Issue

Another vital thing that you should do first up is to ensure that notifications have been ideally customized on your Apple Watch. Maybe you had accidentally messed up the notification setting on your wearable device and forgot to revert that later.

Bear in mind that not all apps have the same notification options. If you wish to use the same notification settings on your iPhone and Apple Watch, tapMirror my iPhone.

There are four ways you can customize notifications on your watchOS device:

If you’re not receiving notifications on your Apple Watch, there is a chance that it’s because the watch has lost its connection with the iPhone. Before trying out any of the other steps, make sure that your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone.

Note:

If the problem you’re facing with notifications is that only certain apps aren’t sending notifications to your watch, make sure you have given them permission to push notifications on your Apple Watch. Here’s how to do that.

At times, turning off/on the Bluetooth on both the devices can help youresolve many common watchOS issues. Thus, do give this nifty trick a chance to troubleshoot the notification problem on the watch.

When theDo Not Disturb modeis enabled or the watch is locked, the notifications appear on the iPhone. You should see a tiny crescent moon on the watch face when the DND is active.

If notifications still do not show up on your Apple Watch, hard reset your smartwatch. It has fixed so many miscellaneous watchOS issues. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to count on this troubleshooter to resolve this problem as well.

If you don’t get notifications from certain apps on your Apple Watch, ensure that those apps are updated.

If you still can’t get notifications from certain apps on your watchOS device, delete and reinstall those problematic apps.

More often than not, watchOS software updates come with performance enhancements and several bug fixes. If notifications continue to misbehave on your Apple Watch, updating the software would be a wise move.

Update watchOS from Apple Watch

Update Apple Watch Using iPhone

If your Apple Watch still can’t get notifications, erase the watch andre-pair it with your iPhone. Known as the last resort, it often fixes persistant watchOS issues. Thanks to the automatic backup, you won’t lose any data. So, don’t worry about that.

Erase Your Apple Watch

Erase Your Apple Watch Using iPhone

After you have successfully erased your Apple Watch, open theWatch appon your iPhone and then follow the prompts to re-pair both the devices.

Note:

Fixed Apple Watch Notifications Not Working Problem

So, that wraps up this detailed troubleshooting guide about fixing Apple Watch notification issues. Hopefully, the notifications are back on track on your watchOS device. watchOS 8 is faced with several annoying issues including thePortraits Watch face not working problem, theinability to install appsandcharge the Apple Watch. Let me know your experience of using the latest iteration of watchOS and whether or not the above tricks has worked for you.

Rajesh Mishra

An old school bibliophile who turned a tech nerd out of obsession. When he is not digging into hacks and tracking down stories that are breaking the internet, you may find him reciting poems.

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