5 Ways to Fix Apple Watch Not Ringing for Incoming Calls

Quick Tips

• Ensure you’ve enabled notifications for phone calls on your Apple Watch.
• If you’ve enabled silent mode, or disabled haptics on your Apple Watch, you will not see any alerts for phone calls.
• Further, ensure the Focus Mode you’ve enabled on your Apple Watch doesn’t silence phone calls.

Basic Fixes

• Restart Apple Watch: Restarting your Apple Watch can get rid of any temporary bugs and glitches.
• Check if Apple Watch is connected to iPhone: Ensure your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone, and is within the range.
• Check network connectivity: Ensure your iPhone has a stable cellular network capable of receiving incoming calls.
• Update Apple Watch and iPhone: Install the latest version of iOS and watchOS for a bug-free experience.

Fix 1: Enable Haptics Elerts or Sound

If you’ve enabled silent mode or disabled haptics for notifications on your Apple Watch – you will not receive alerts for calls.

Go to Settings on your Apple Watch, and select Sound and Haptics. If you want to listen to the sound for phone calls, disable Silent Mode. If you have enabled silent mode but want your watch to vibrate for calls, enable Haptic Alerts.

Also Read: How to make your Apple Watch vibrate for notifications.

Fix 2: Turn Off Focus

If a Focus Mode is enabled on Apple Watch, you may not receive alerts for phone calls based on its settings. Click the side button once, or swipe up to open the control center and disable the Focus Mode.

If turning on Focus Mode on your iPhone enables it on your Apple Watch as well – go to Settings on your Apple Watch, go to Focus, and disable Mirror My iPhone.

Fix 3: Check Notification Settings

Step 1: Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Scroll to Notifications and select Phone.

Step 2: If the Mirror My iPhone option is selected, your Apple Watch will notify you of phone calls based on your iPhone settings. Ensure you’ve not disabled phone call notifications or sounds for it on your iPhone.

Step 3: If you have selected custom, select Allow Notifications and ensure you’ve enabled Sound or Haptics.

Fix 4: Allow Calls on Other Devices

You need to allow calls on other devices from your iPhone Settings. That way, your incoming iPhone calls should ring on the connected iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.

Step 1: Open the Settings app and scroll to Phone.

Step 2: Select Calls on Other Devices and toggle on Allow Calls on Other Devices.

Fix 5: Unpair Apple Watch

If nothing works, you can always unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone, and pair it again. This helps restore any misconfigurations causing the problem.

Step 1: Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap on All Watches in the top left corner.

Step 2: Tap the i icon (info button) next to the watch. Tap Unpair Apple Watch.

Step 5: Follow the on-screen instructions once you unpair your Apple Watch, to connect it once again.